SHEHJAR - Web Magazine for Kashmir

Article 370 - Domicile Requirement

On December 11th, 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the government's decision to abrogate Article 370 and said steps should be taken to conduct elections in the assembly by 30 September, 2024. The court also directed that statehood to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir be restored at the earliest.

The court also upheld the validity of the decision to carve out the union territory of Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir. The government abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Policy of appeasement

It was on August 6th 2019, the Government of India revoked the special status, granted under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir. The main purpose was a complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India so that any Indian citizen can buy property and land in Jammu & Kashmir. It was a historic moment for all Indians but the Abdukllahs, Muftis and Gilanis and Islamists of Kashmir were unhappy.

The Modi government instead of holding its ground, scrummed under the pressure and replaced it with a stringent Domicile requirement to appease these Kashmir Islamists and separatists. Policy of appeasement is still continuing with Billions being spent in Kashmir in the name of developmet enriching the separatist and Jihadi elements in Kashmir. Now an Indian from other parts of India cannot buy land or property in Jammu and Kashmir unless he has a Domicile certificate form J & K. People of India have been duped as the Abrogation drama was just a marketing ploy of Modi government.

Eligibility to apply for J&K Domicile Certificate

All the people who falls in the mentioned categories would be eligible for Domicile Certificate in Jammu & Kashmir:-

1. Under the new J&K Domicile Rules, all those persons and their children who have lived for 15 years in Jammu and Kashmir or have studied for seven years are eligible.
2. Also, those people who had appeared in class 10 or 12 examinations in an educational institution in the UT are eligible for domicile certificates.
3. Children of central government officials, all India service officers, officials of PSUs and autonomous body of the central government, public sector banks, officials of statutory bodies, central universities and recognised research institutes of the Centre, who have served in Jammu of Kashmir for a total period of 10 years, will also be eligible for domicile status in Jammu & Kashmir.
4. Besides, all those migrants and their children who are registered with the relief and rehabilitation commissioner will be granted a domicile certificate.
5. Children of those residents of Jammu and Kashmir who reside outside the Union Territory in connection with their employment of business or other professional or vocational reasons have become eligible for grant of domicile status.

People falling in these categories can apply online for J&K Domicile Certificate through the process specified above.

Of the 13.6 million living in J&K, according to Census 2011, 68.3% are Muslim while Hindus are 30%. While Kashmir is 97% Muslim, the Jammu division is 65% Hindu and 31% Muslim.

Other states in India that have restrictions on who can vote and buy property are Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nagaland.

The Enemy within

We often forget the fact that 500,000 Kashmiri Hindus were forced to leave the valley en-masse in 1989-90 as a first step of Islamization of the valley. About 1200 killed; most after maiming and torture with just a few thousand Hindus remaining in the valley. The continuation of terror attacks and targeted killings of Hindus in Kashmir prove that the Jihadi mindset has penetrated deep into the psyche and has polluted the minds of a major population of Kashmiri muslims in the valley.

The Kashmir region has a total area of just 6,158 sq mi and the Kashmir Valley is just 83 miles long x 20 miles wide less than 5% of the area of J&K. Population in Kashmir as per 2011 census was 70 Lakhs expected to be 1.25 Crores in 2019 vs 135 crore population of India, So a less than 1% population takes the entire country as a hostage and the government sill does not come to senses. This data is significant to prove the failure of the successive Indian governments in tackling with this minuscule population living in the valley.

In order to tackle any problem, one needs to understand the problem and name the enemy. The current administrations like its predecessors have also failed to understand the ground realities. Stop boasting about the the record tourism in the valley as normalization in the valley. The stone pelters and terrorists have changed their gameplan and have resorted to a trickle down target killing that has the impact they want. Install fear and make sure that a Hindu or a Sikh from out side India does not even think of settling in Kashmir. "Come as a tourist, spent you money and get the hell out of my Nizame Mustaffa vale of Kashmir", is their silent slogan.

We need to analyze as to why our hostile neighbor is not able to create terrorist heavens in Punjab Rajasthan or Kutch areas and why it is only in the valley? It is because Kashmiri Muslims provide a safe refuge to terrorists. Anyone providing safe refuge to terrorists in Kashmir or elsewhere should be held responsible as equal co-conspirers. Stop appeasing these Islamic radicals in the valley. Enemy is within and we need strong mindset to root out this evil.

What are the compulsions? It is as simple as normalizing Hindu Killings! For how long is BJP sarkar going to be at it? Who's killing Kashmiri Pandits? Who's killing the labourers from Jharkhand, UP, Bihar? Why are they being killed? The only factor is that they are HINDUS and the local muslims do not want them to settle in theit land and obtain a domicile status over period of time. ..

Solution if any?

Every problem has a solution; one just need to discover it. And the first stem is to analyze the rootcause of the problem and not cover it with a Band-aid, hoping that it will vanish. The government has failed and the people who are in-charge of Kashmir be it Ram Madhav or Manoj Sinha have absolutely no clue of the psyche of native Kashmiris. They treat Kashmir as a regular law and order problem and call it a day. Manoj Sinha will gloat as success when a terrorist whom they call militant is killed who had murdered a Hindu. That is the only recourse of action and that is why they celebrate Kashmir as normal when record tourists visit the valley. A few killings are too minute for them and Kashmiri Pandits are guinea pigs who are forced to serve in Kashmir even after targeted killings.

The only solution is consequence of actions. These terrorists are all local grown and fed and come from localities in the region. Unless and until they get sanctuary from the locals, they will not dare commit such heinous killings. The only consequence is that they may get caught and get killed, but their families get millions and the whole region also gets funds as appeasement. The Yogi Model adopted is one of the solutions and until and unless the government takes some drastic action, the situation will remain as is. The empty houses with open windows of Kashmiri Pandits even today are a testament of the failure of this governmrnt too.