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Dear Omar Abdullah: Who is really lying?

Author: Kartikeya Tanna
Publication: Niticentral.com
Date: December 3, 2013
URL: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/12/02/dear-omar-abdullah-who-is-really-lying-163938.html

In the Lalkaar Rally on Sunday, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi made a very critical point on how women who marry outside the State of Jammu & Kashmir, regardless of their religion, face discrimination by the J&K Government. Omar Abdullah, as was expected, retorted back saying that Modi was ill-informed or was lying.

Who really is “ill-informed” or “lying” will become clear soon.

Let us first look at the legal position. Since the mid 1960s till 2003-2004, the J&K Government implemented an ‘executive order’ which essentially stated that permanent residence certificates (PRCs) were to be issued to females with the words “Valid Till Marriage”. Government officials implemented this executive order as per their whims and fancies.

In most cases, Kashmiri females marrying out-of-State residents were no longer considered eligible for obtaining a PRC. In some cases, particularly in well-connected cases, the females would continue to be considered “state subjects” eligible for a PRC even if they married an outsider. A PUCL report talks of the example of the daughter of a senior bureaucrat being treated favourably and getting a PRC.

Eventually, the J&K High Court held that this executive order was invalid since it violated the gender equality clause of the Constitution. Just as the Congress did in the Shah Bano case, a senior Minister of the PDP Government back in 2004 tried to perpetuate this discrimination against Kashmiri women through a Bill. As it turns out, the Bill never became a law.

Therefore, since 2003-2004, discriminating against Kashmiri women has been unlawful and, moreover, in contempt of the J&K High Court judgement.

However, in practice, the law is being blatantly violated. Firstly, Sunanda Tharoor, a Kashmiri and someone who has married Shashi Tharoor, had difficulties getting a PRC as is evidenced by her tweet:

Omar Abdullah @abdullah_omar
@sptvrock @ShashiTharoor this law changed almost 10 years ago so would appreciate if you & Shashi set the record straight

11 Octo
-----------------------

SunandaPTharoor
@sptvrock

@abdullah_omar @ShashiTharoor I wasn't allowed to buy land a few years ago was told I can't as I am married to a non kashmiri
------------------------

This is also confirmed by the fact that two official websites of the Jammu & Kashmir Government clearly tell Kashmiri females married to an outsider that they are not eligible to apply for a PRC. The URL can be seen in the screenshot itself.

1. This is a screenshot on 02/12/2013 of the Official Website of Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar

URL: http://srinagar.nic.in/p_services/prc.htm

2. This is a screenshot of the PRC division of J&K Government

URL: http://www.kashmirdivision.nic.in/about/services/prc.htm

So, while the law declared by J&K High Court clearly forbids the J&K Government from continuing with this blatant anti-women rule, in practice, the J&K Government continues to deprive Kashmiri women from obtaining PRC if they marry outsiders.

Even if Omar Abdullah says this website has not been updated by their efficient website administrators, the point here is that the officials adjudicating on PRC applications as well as innocent Kashmiri women wanting a PRC would obviously look at the website and determine their eligibility. Does Omar Abdullah think that innocent applicants must read the J&K High Court order to know their rights?

Sadly for Abdullah, he is the one who ends up looking awfully ignorant and ill-informed about what his own Government rather openly does.
 
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