Article 35-A Row: JRL Defers Shutdown Call To August 30, 31

Srinagar: The Joint Resistance Leadership comprising of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik have deferred the shutdown call scheduled for August 26 & 27 to August 30 and 31 as the Supreme Court will now hear the pleas challenging Article-35A on August 31.

Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq while announcing the deferment wrote on Twitter, “As the Supreme Court of India is now hearing the case, challenging the state subject law of J&K, on 31st August as such the statewide protest hartal by JRL against this nefarious move will now be observed on 30th & 31st August. However protests by different segments of society will continue.”

Earlier in the first week of August, the Supreme Court had adjourned the case till last week of August.

Article 35A that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights to them.

A non-governmental organisation, We the Citizens, filed a petitioned in the SC in 2014 to abolish the law on the grounds that it was “unconstitutional”. (RK)