Express News Service
SRINAGAR: Five days after Ladakh administration ordered the issuing of Resident Certificates to residents of the Union Territory, the J&K Panchayat Conference—a body of elected panchayat members—has demanded the restoration of the Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) system prevalent in Jammu and Kashmir before the Centre diluted Article 370 of the Constitution.
“When the Resident Certificate can be issued to the residents of Ladakh, why the PRC or state subject system (prevalent in the erstwhile state of J&K) cannot be restored to the UT of J&K,” J&K Panchayat Conference chairman Shafiq Mir said.
Talking to this newspaper, Shafiq said the demand to restore Article 35A, which granted special privileges to J&K residents and barred outsiders from purchasing land, is political in nature. He said the political parties in J&K should have involved the people and pressed the Centre for restoration of Articles 370 and 35A instead of taking a legal route.
He alleged that politicians (referring to Gupkar Alliance) are playing “drama” over the issue for the last two years and are not serious in their struggle for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A and are using it to again gain power.
Shafiq said leaders of Ladakh’s Kargil and Leh districts came together and rejected the domicile law, and now, they have gotten their state subject system restored. “But unfortunately our politicians are just playing politics over it,” Shafiq said the politicians have failed the people.
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