Granting domicile certificates to ‘outsiders’ triggers new controversy in J&K

Tribune News Service
Jammu/Kashmir, June 28

Jammu and Kashmir administration’s decision to grant domicile certificates to the “outsiders” living in J&K has snowballed into a major controversy, with opposition parties objecting to the decision.

The Congress became the third party after the National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party to oppose what they have called “morally and ethically wrong” move.

Congress vice-president GN Monga said the new domicile rules went against the wishes and aspirations of the people of J&K.

IAS officer among 25,000 people granted domicile certificates in J-K

“The government must wait till the Supreme Court decides about the petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370,” he said, adding that the court’s decision on petitions challenging the central government’s decision to read down Articles 370 and 35A were still pending.

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah—who is the working president of the National Conference—has already announced his party’s stand on the domicile rules, adding that there would be people on “both sides of Pir Panjal” who will suffer because of it.

“All our misgivings about the new domicile rules in J&K are coming to the fore. We in @JKNC_ opposed the changes because we could see the nefarious design behind the changes. The people of J&K on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountains will be the sufferers of these domicile rules,” Omar had tweeted.

The UT administration’s recent decision to issue domicile certificate to Navin K Choudhary, a senior bureaucrat, once again sparked a debate over the controversial domicile rules.  Choudhary, an IAS officer of J&K cadre from the 1994 batch, is originally from Bihar.

Choudhary was among the first 25,000 people, including West Pak Refugees and Valmikis, issued domicile certificates since the new law was enforced, and became the first bureaucrat to be issued one.

Before Article 370 and its corollary Article 35-A was read down on August 5, 2019, only state subjects were allowed to buy land and apply for government jobs.

Introduced in the UT this past April, the new domicile law, which replaced the Permanent Resident Certificates (PRC), defines “domiciles” as those who have been residing in Jammu and Kashmir for a period of 15 years, or have studied here for seven years and appeared in Class 10/12 examination in educational institutions located in J&K.

‘Illegal’

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah called domicile law “unconstitutional and illegal”.

“How do you expect me to accept anything which is unconstitutional or illegal,” Abdullah, , a Member Parliament and a former chief minister of the erstwhile state, told the press at south Kashmir’s Anantnag on Sunday.