Article 370 revoked, all you need to know about 35A and 370. Details Inside.

The situation in Kashmir had always been full of political and geographical complexities. And soon after the United Nations intervened to broker a solution between India and Pakistan, it became the center of attention for the whole international community. The situation in Jammu and Kashmir remains unresolved and marred by controversies to this day.

Thus it was expected that the revoking or re-organizing of Article 370 would be a center of nationwide attention.

Before we dive into the issue at hand, let’s take a minute to understand what exactly is Article 370?

Article 370, along with Article 35A granted the state of Jammu and Kashmir some special features. Article 370 states that the Union Government and Parliament of India had limited precedence over legal matters in the state of J&K.

Moving on to the issue at hand, on 5th August 2019, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, issued a constitutional order that has rendered Article 370 useless.

From now on, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to be seen as two separate Union Territories. Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature while Ladakh will not.

But that’s not all. Here are some changes that have come to effect after the revoking of Article 370.

1. The center will now be allowed to declare a state of emergency even if the emergency is not due to an act of war or foreign aggression. Prior to the revoking, Union Government needed the nod of the state government to declare a financial emergency.

2. Under Article 35A, permanent residents had special privileges in matters relating to employment, ownership of property, etc. Now, the residents of the state shall no more enjoy these exclusive benefits.

3. Non-residents of the state will now be eligible to acquire land in the territory.

4. From now on, the Union government will be able to make decisions regarding the territory. It will no more need the nod of a state-level governing body as seen before.

5. Women will not be barred from their property rights if they marry any person outside the state. This provision also extends to the children of such women.

6. Kashmir will no longer have a flag of it’s own. The Tricolor will be the official flag in the territory from now on just like the rest of the country.