STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Several political parties including National Conference, Congress and Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party met the Delimitation Commission, comprising Chairperson Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai and Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, which reached the summer capital on 4 days consultative tour of the UT.
PDP, ANC choose to abstain
“Today the Commission interacted with various political parties including BSP, BJP, CPI, CPI(M), INC, J&K NC, J&K National Panthers Party, JK People’s Conference, JK Apni Party, and 17 district units of various political parties. Tomorrow Commission will be visiting Anantnag district and will interact with the political parties and members of public of 4 districts viz. Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama”, an official spokesperson said, adding that the Commission will visit Kishtwar and Jammu on 8th and 9th July, and interact with the political parties, civil societies and the Deputy Commissioners.
The PDP decided to stay away from the delimitation process, alleging the body lacks constitutional and legal mandate and is part of the overall “process of political disempowerment” of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a two-page letter written to Ranjana Desai, a retired supreme court judge heading the panel, general secretary of the party Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura said the PDP has decided not to be part of “some exercise, the outcome which is widely believed to be pre-planned and which may further hurt the interests of our people”.
In its letter to the Commission, the ANC informed that it will not take part in the proceedings as the setting up of the commission has been challenged before the Supreme Court.
“As such it will not be proper to interfere with the working of the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” ANC general secretary Mir Mohammad Shafi said in the communication.
The National Conference and the Congress met the visiting Delimitation Commission and urged it to carry out the exercise of redrawing the electoral constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir in a free, fair and transparent manner so that the unity and integrity of the union territory is safeguarded. The two parties submitted separate memoranda to the Commission headed by Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai outlining their concerns and demands related to the exercise, and saying it be carried out only after J&K is granted statehood again.
The National Conference said the delimitation exercise should not have been conducted till the Supreme Court decided on the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019 and other related orders.
It said the hearing in the cases got delayed due to the pandemic and all the petitions are expected to be taken up once the physical hearing commences.
The party said in its memorandum that the implementation of any Act which is under the scrutiny of the court may amount to preempting the judicial verdict.
The party said that under the constitutional scheme, the delimitation of assembly constituencies fell within the powers of the state of J&K and under the second proviso to sec 47 of the Constitution of J&K, it is to be undertaken once the figures of the first census after 2026 are published.
The party said the delimitation exercise would be a credible effort in strengthening democracy only after full statehood is restored to J&K.
“Despite our basic reservations on the issue, the commission has decided to go ahead with the delimitation process. While reiterating our stand and without prejudice to the submissions made above, we request you and other members of the Commission to carry out the delimitation exercise in a free, fair and transparent manner so that the unity and integrity of the state is safeguarded. Population has to be the only norm as has been the practice here in the past in J&K and elsewhere in the country,” it said.
Talking to reporters after meeting the commission, NC leader Nasir Wani said the party impressed upon the panel that people have “lost faith” in institutions and it was for the commission to try and restore this confidence.
“If they are undertaking the exercise now, will it be repeated when delimitation has to be done across the country after 2026?” he asked.
Congress delegation in its memorandum said the delimitation process will be rendered “nugatory” if held before the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
“May we at the INC point out that until the restoration of Statehood for J&K, as demanded in the CWC Resolution of 6th August 2019, is completed; the delimitation process commencement will be rendered nugatory,” the memorandum reads.
The party said it told the Commission that the initiation of political and democratic dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir must begin with restoration of civil liberties of political parties and people.
The “unlawful detention” of political leaders and their incarceration for long period without any charges is itself an anathema to the founding principles of democracy under our Constitution, it added.
“The aspiration of people of Ladakh to determine their democratic foundations within the four corners of the Indian constitution must be severely respected,” the Congress said.
The party also suggested that the draft proposal prepared by the delimitation Commission be circulated among all the political parties for giving suggestions and submitting objections, if any.
“The Congress is duty bound to represent the viewpoints, apprehensions and doubts of the masses in general about certain factors and preconceived notions that may be detrimental to the democratic rights.
“People of Jammu and Kashmir have grave apprehensions of preconceived political prejudice governing the Commission’s final recommendations with a view to give unfair and undue advantage to a particular political party and to the exclusion of democratic rights of the people for a just and amicable delimitation process and particularly to put the mainstream political parties in a disadvantageous position on account of innate unfairness,” it added.
A delegation of Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party led by its Senior Vice President Ghulam Hassan Mir met with the Delimitation Commission members.
Besides Party’s Senior Vice President, the delegation comprised of Vice Presidents Zaffar Iqbal Manhas & Usman Majid, General Secretary Rafi Ahmad Mir and Provincial President Kashmir Mohammad Ashraf Mir. After holding threadbare discussions on the delimitation exercise, the delegation submitted a memorandum.
The memorandum reads “J&K has been under President’s rule since its reorganization in August 2019. The constitution of the Delimitation Commission assumes added significance for delimiting the Lok Sabha and Assembly Constituencies for the purpose of holding elections in J&K at an earliest purely the interest of general public. The process of completion of delimitation needs to be expedited at a faster pace so that a political process is restored and eventually elections held for which the people of J & K have been aspiring. The views of all stakeholders need to be accommodated through dialogue and public hearings at district level instead of provincial level.
“After delimitation the effective strength of J&K assembly seats will be 90 instead of existing 83 thereby increasing the number by further 07 assembly segments. The distribution of the seats shall be as mandated by the Constitution,” JKAP memorandum further reads adding that Population being the criteria for delimiting the assembly constituencies, the districts on the basis of laid down criteria need to be identified which qualify for additional assembly segments. The assembly seats for those of districts may remain intact which do not qualify for any additional assembly constituency.
The administrative units i.e districts are to be considered as basic units for redrawing the assembly constituencies. Except where there are certain compulsions and constraints within the district in local administrative units, the rule can be relaxed
There is a population of about 2 lakh Kashmiri Pandits who actually belong to Kashmir valley but presently are residing outside mostly in Jammu. This population has been covered under census 2011 for Jammu province but using their right to vote in Kashmir valley. This chunk of population needs to be accounted for in the Kashmir valley while redrawing the assembly constituencies.
There are two Lok Sabha Constituencies in Jammu Province and three in Kashmir Province. The number of seats for each of the Provinces may remain intact.
The CPI (M) also submitted a memorandum which highlighted the constitutional aspects of delimitation and the legal challenge to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019.
The CPI(M) said under the present circumstances, the 2011 census should be taken as the guiding frame for the delimitation exercise.
“The neglected sections of the population living in remote areas of the J&K also must be given due representation, the memorandum submitted by Ghulam Nabi Malik read.