Iqra Bhat
Women are as equal as men, and universe can’t progress ahead in the right direction without the full and equal partnership of Women in the cycle of progress and prosperity.
The woman performs the role of wife, partner, organizer, administrator, director, re-creator, disburser, economist, mother, disciplinarian, teacher, health officer, artist, and queen in the family at the same time. Apart from it, women plays a key role in the socio-economic development of society.
After the independence of the country, Jammu and Kashmir had a special status in form of article 370, and one thing for which it was heavily criticized was eating up the rights of the women, especially the property rights women.
After the abrogation of article 370, the scenario has now turned heavily in favor of women. In new look, Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of article 370 women can now buy real estate and transfer property to children, even if they get married to a non-resident as Article 35A a provision of article 370 had automatically become void with the scrapping of Article 370.
Article 35A gave the J&K government the right to decide who qualifies as a ‘permanent resident’. The permanent resident is subject to some special rights as only they can acquire land, settle, and get government jobs and scholarships in the erstwhile state.
It is painful enough to note that if a man from J&K would marry an outsider or even a foreigner, not only would his Rights remain intact, but the spouse and the progeny would also enjoy all such rights and privileges by way of the provisions of Articles 370 and 35A. Whereas, the woman, her spouse, and progeny would not enjoy rights, privileges or would inherit any properties in the erstwhile State.
The height of tyranny against women was such order to upturn the 2002 landmark judgment of the J&K High Court in the case of Dr. Sushila Sahni vs State of J&K, the PDP-Congress coalition government brought about a J&K Permanent Resident Disqualification Act (2004) in the State legislature in order to deprive the women marrying to non-PRC holders of all their legal rights. This Act was not only gendered discriminatory but was blatantly communal and influenced by political considerations, as it claimed that the Act would not affect those state subjects who were governed by their personal laws.
With the abrogation of article 370 All Central Acts and Laws protecting the rights of women and children to be made fully applicable to Jammu and Kashmir e.g. Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, Juvenile Justice Act, etc.
The analytical voices of the country state that women were also accorded a second-class status in the law. Under 35A, they could not inherit property if they married outside the state, and even after relief by the courts, they could still not pass on the property to their children. Article 370, which accorded special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, was at the root cause of this misery. They stated with the abrogation of article 370 all this misery is history now.
One more important thing worth to note that the abrogation of Article 370 has paved the way for the National Commission for Women (NCW) to act on complaints filed before them by women from Jammu and Kashmir.
The commission said Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, barred them from acting on such complaints.
The women of Jammu and Kashmir are breathing a fresh lease of life and firmly opine that nothing can clip their wings now.
