Separatists call for mass agitation if SC delivers verdict against Article 35A
Srinagar: Three separatist leaders on Sunday urged the people of Kashmir to launch a "mass agitation" if the Supreme Court delivered a verdict in favour of pleas seeking the repeal of Article 35A and said any effort to "tinker with" a state subject law will create "a Palestine- like situation".
In a joint statement here, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik urged the people to "launch a mass agitation if the Supreme Court delivered a verdict against the interests and aspirations of the people of the state".
The matter is expected to come before the Supreme Court shortly. The Article relates to special rights and privileges of the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 35A, added to the Indian Constitution by a Presidential Order in 1954, also empowers the state's legislature to frame laws without attracting a challenge on grounds of violating the Right to Equality of people from other states or any other right under the Constitution.