A leading Kashmiri Pandit organisation, ‘Roots in Kashmir’ has filed a caveat in Supreme Court today seeking that no order shall be passed in the petition challenging constitutional validity of abrogation of Article 370 without hearing the caveator. In a press release issued by the Kashmiri Pandit organisation, ‘Roots in Kashmir’ said that that majority of Kashmiri Pandit community has always demanded abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A.
“RIK believes that both these special provisions to a Muslim majority state were being misused to make J&K into an Islamic state. These articles were not only an impediment in the return of Kashmir Pandits, but also a hindrance in delivering justice to thousands of people who have been victim of terrorism,” read a statement issued by the organisation.
The statement further added that the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A “will now help the minority, women and the disadvantaged communities to be treated as equal in the new dispensation and help J&K be part of India’s economic growth and prosperity.”
Munish Jalali, Coordinator, Roots in Kashmir said, “RIK is now working with organisations across India to start a nation-wide awareness campaign to highlight the ills of these two articles and thwart every effort of restoring the unjust Article 370.”
On 17th August, ex-defence personnel and bureaucrats moved the Supreme Court over abrogation of Article 370 and termed the Presidential Order as ‘constitutionally invalid’. The petitioners included former Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak and former member of the Home Ministry’s Group of Interlocutors for J&K, Radha Kumar.