In its first cabinet meeting, Omar Abdullah-led Jammu and Kashmir government passed a resolution urging the Centre to restore statehood of the Union Territory on Friday. He is also expected to travel to Delhi and hand over the draft of the resolution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Jammu and Kashmir government held its first cabinet meeting yesterday after Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the CM on October 16.

Following the dilution of Article 370 in 2019, Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood was terminated. On October 17, 2024, the Supreme Court listed a plea seeking the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

‘Statehood has to be time bound…’

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for applicants, had urged a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the plea needed an urgent hearing.

“There is an MA in the Article 370 matter, the implementation for conferring statehood…it has to be time-bound,” Sankaranarayanan said, to which the CJI DY Chandrachud agrees, legal news agency Live Law reported.

Earlier, on December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court had unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, the apex court had also directed for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections to be held by September 2024, highlighting that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood be restored at the ‘earliest.’

Elections for the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly were held in three phases, from September 18 to October 1, resulting in the formation of a government by the National Conference-Congress alliance.

‘First task to demand statehood…’

Before taking the oath, Omar Abdullah had said that the first task of his government would be to become the voice of the people. Earlier, Congress leader P. Chidambaram had also expressed that ‘first task of the new government should be to demand the restoration of statehood to J-K’, and all the I.N.D.I.A parties should support it.

NC President, Farooq Abdullah expressed optimism that the Centre would soon restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah was ‘sure’ that the ‘Government of India would soon restore J&K’s statehood’, stated an NDTV report.

Ahead of Maharashtra assembly elections which are likely to be held in the month of November, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) has moved the Supreme Court to prevent Ajit Pawar camp from using the ‘Clock’ symbol.

The development comes amid NCP(SP) leaders demanding that both the factions of the NCP be treated equally, as only Sharad Pawar camp was given a new poll symbol.

According to Bar and Bench, the plea said that the rival faction leveraged upon the existing confusion in the minds of the people due to a long-standing association between the ‘Clock’ symbol and the Petitioner.

The latest application was filed on September 25.

The plea further stated that confusion would potentially be greater in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections.

Live Law reported the  NCP-SP camp has urged apex court to issue directions to Ajit camp to apply for a fresh symbol for the limited purpose of contesting the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.

The matter is scheduled to be heard on October 15. A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan will hear the case.

In July 2023, Ajit Pawar along with several other MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government, leading to a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded by his uncle, Sharad Pawar.

The NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar, had ‘clock’ as its election symbol before the split.

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission allotted the NCP name and the ‘clock’ symbol to Ajit Pawar camp in the month of February.

Whereas, in March, Sharad Pawar faction was allowed to use ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ as its name and ‘man blowing turha’ (a traditional trumpet) as its symbol by the Supreme court.

The top court had earlier observed that the name and photographs of Sharad Pawar cannot be used by the Ajit Pawar faction for political gains.

When will the Maharashtra elections take place?

Last week, after taking stock of the situation and meeting 11 political parties, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said that the election in the state will have to be completed before the term of legislative assembly ends.

The Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir is happening after 10 years, and the people have voted not merely to elect their representatives or their government but also to participate in elections and draw attention to some of the challenges they face. The voting happened in three phases, on September 18, 25, and October 1. Unlike in the past, the participation of voters in this election is widely perceived as a vote for change, for a return to statehood, and to bring back the voices of civil society and political parties. Moreover, the people are voting for the politics of recognition and the politics of redistribution.

Some months ago in Shopian, Gulzar, in his early 30s, had just entered his house and closed the main gate when a person from an Army convoy came to him, sought his ID card, and ordered him to come to their camp. At the camp, Gulzar was asked to cut his long hair since, according to the Army man, only militants have long hair. Much against his will, Gulzar cut his hair to protect himself from conflict.

The whys of the vote in Kashmir

Gulzar’s story is not unique in Kashmir, but what is important is that in this election, all his family members voted, the women doing so for the first time, but Gulzar did not vote. He believes that the state did not treat him as a free citizen, so he refused to participate. His elder brother, who runs a small business, said he voted for an Independent although he thinks the National Conference (NC) candidate and a rebel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have a better chance of winning in his constituency. But he hopes that the independent candidate, being a local person, will hear him out whenever he has problems. With no boycotts announced by any group, this Assembly election has seen a high turnout in Shopian in South Kashmir.

Not just Shopian, but other districts such as Kulgam and Pulwama have also seen among the highest voter turnouts in this election, which is significant for three reasons. First, this region has been a hotbed of militancy and seen many street protests in the past years, mainly after the Burhan Wani encounter killing in 2016.

Also Read | Anantnag-Rajouri: New seat, old battles

Second, the PDP has a strong base in this region; the party won 12 out of 16 Assembly seats in South Kashmir in both the 2014 and 2008 Assembly elections. The party is facing a tough fight to retain its base. In the past, the PDP got the anti-NC votes and also received tacit support from Islamic outfits such as the Jamaat-e-Islami. But it is facing the brunt of voter opposition for forming a government with the BJP in 2015. In the years that followed, the government was dissolved, Jammu and Kashmir lost statehood, and Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was abrogated.

Third, the Jamaat-e-Islami, which has a strong presence in this region and usually calls for boycott of elections, is not only appealing to people to vote but is also contesting the election for the first time—after 35 years—in alliance with Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul “Engineer” Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party (AIP).

Of the 13 districts that voted in the first two phases, more places showed an increase in voter turnout (from the previous Assembly election) in phase one. The story changed in the second phase, which saw a lower turnout compared with the previous election. Table 1 shows that of the 13 districts, the turnout jumped only in 5, 3 of them in South Kashmir, and 1 each in Central Kashmir and Chenab Valley. Of the four districts in South Kashmir, barring Anantnag, all districts showed a significant jump in turnout.

Kishtwar saw the highest voter turnout at a little over 80 per cent. The district saw the second-highest jump after Shopian in voter turnout from the previous Assembly election. Voter participation in Srinagar district was very low but still improved by around 2 percentage points from the previous Assembly election. The maximum decline in turnout was observed in Budgam district in Central Kashmir.

Decline in voter turnout among Hindus

If we delve deeper, a significant trend in turnout emerges from the Hindu population. Barring Kishtwar, all districts with a high Hindu population have seen a significant decline in voter turnout. Reasi, which has a 49 per cent Hindu population according to the 2011 Census, saw a 7 per cent decline in voter turnout (Table 2). Similarly, in Rajouri, which has a 35 per cent Hindu population, the turnout declined by 8 per cent.

Table 2 shows another significant relation between turnout change and the BJP’s performance in the 2014 Assembly election when the BJP won 25 Assembly seats, most of them (18) in the Jammu region (which voted on October 1). The sudden rise of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014 also helped it expand its strength beyond the Jammu region. Of the 50 seats that voted in the first two phases, the party won 7 seats in the 2014 election. These seven seats are spread over five districts in Chenab Valley, Jammu, and the Pir Panjal region. Of the five districts where the BJP won any seats, four saw a decline in turnout.

Another turnout trend can be analysed around the Scheduled Tribe population. According to the 2011 Census, the Scheduled Caste population in the Union Territory is 19 per cent and the ST population is 12 per cent, but the UT has a unique demographic feature: SCs are concentrated in the Jammu region, while STs are concentrated mostly in the Pir Panjal and the Chenab Valley. However, some of the districts in Central and South Kashmir also have an ST population.

Among the STs, the Bakarwal (a nomad community) and the Gujjar have the lion’s share. The share of the ST population will change dramatically in the next Census as the Central government has included the Pahari community (those who live in the mountains of Poonch and Rajouri districts) in the ST category.

Table 3 suggests that all the districts where the ST population is in double digits have seen a decline in turnout. Poonch and Rajouri, which have the highest share of the ST population, show a 4 and 8 per cent decline in turnout respectively. This trend across social segments and in the absence of a boycott call may point to a general reluctance to participate in the electoral process. It becomes more interesting when one considers the significant social engineering, in terms of reservation, undertaken by the Centre.

How reservation changed the game

In March 2024, the UT government announced a 10 per cent reservation in jobs for the Pahari ethnic group and three other tribes (Gadda Brahman, Koli, Padderi). The total reservation for STs in Jammu and Kashmir is now 20 per cent. Earlier, when the Bakarwal and the Gujjar had ST status, they had 10 per cent reservation in the State. In 2020, the government approved a 4 per cent reservation in jobs for the Pahari-speaking population. This year, the government extended this quota to 10 per cent and added three new communities to the quota. The major beneficiaries of the Pahari reservation are the populations in Poonch and Rajouri districts who live in the hills (with a special explanation) and include all religions and caste communities.

The STs in Kashmir are mostly Muslim. The Gujjar and the Bakarwal are Muslim, and because of Mian Altaf Ahmed Larvi of the NC, the Gujjar have been a strong support base for the party for a long time.

Owing to the extension of reservation to the Pahari, the BJP has become a major gainer in the Pir Panjal region. During his field visit, the author met many Muslims who were ready to support the BJP because of the reservation, and because the BJP candidate was a Muslim. In Surankote Assembly constituency of Poonch district, the BJP used to be a marginal player but is a strong contender this time, having fielded the NC turncoat Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, a Pahari who was vocal for Pahari reservation.

A similar situation favours the BJP in the Poonch Haveli constituency as well, where aspirational youth and even Sikhs are inclined to support or vote for the BJP due to the Pahari reservation. In Poonch Haveli, Tripti Sharma, who hopes to become a civil servant, was happy with the decision because she believes that due to this, her competition is just among the Pahari (especially from Poonch and Rajouri), and not with the well-facilitated students from Jammu and elsewhere.

The 10 per cent reservation for the Pahari, however, may lead to many questions. First, if language is the criterion for reservation, then should the people who speak Pahari but not live in the hills get the benefits? Second, if habitation is the criterion for reservation, then is it good practice to give reservation to those who are socially and economically well off (a significant number of Paharis own a good share of land)? If these are the criteria, will it not dilute the basic concept of reservation?

All elections are fought on the development plank, but the puzzle in Jammu and Kashmir is about the kind of development. Road, rations, electricity, and other infrastructure are one dimension of development. The other is providing reservation to suppressed communities to uplift them. Both of these could come under the politics of redistribution.

On the other hand, allowing space for people to move about and speak freely is also another kind of development that is required for the human mind. This dimension could fall under the umbrella of the politics of recognition.

In Jammu and Kashmir, this author found a strong demand for both the politics of recognition and redistribution. People accept the fact that the Valley has become more peaceful in the past few years and that road infrastructure has improved tremendously. Governance has also become more accountable. A Sikh in his late 30s, based in Mattan, who works in the National Highways Authority of India, said that under the Lieutenant Governor’s rule they have to reach work on time by sharing their GPS location. While travelling in a local bus from Surankote to Poonch, this author saw some employees of the education department trying to send their GPS coordinates to supervisors.

But the people of Kashmir also believe that after August 2019, under the Lt Governor’s rule, their voices have been suppressed, their basic rights curtailed, and that local people have lost job opportunities to outsiders.

‘Someone to hear us out’

The election campaigns of the NC, the PDP, the AIP, and so on are more focussed on the slogan “sarkar banane se bolne ki aazadi milegi” (electing a government will bring freedom of speech). In Shopian, outside a polling booth, a 50-something man said: “People want change, no election took place in 10 years. We want to elect our representative, someone who will hear us out.” There is no concrete data yet, but voter participation is likely to be higher in rural areas than urban from what one noted on the field. This is because people in rural areas want to have their own MLAs to help them get roads, electricity, water, etc.

Also Read | Statehood not a gift for BJP or government to give: Omar Abdullah

At present, the NC seems to have an edge because it has not been in power for the past 10 years and so, unlike the PDP, it does not face an anti-incumbency sentiment, secondly it has a committed and long-standing cadre base, and thirdly, it is associated with the famous land-to-tiller reform scheme.

This election is being fought on two main planks: electoral autonomy and social-engineering-led development. Which one will weigh uppermost in voters’ minds has emerged as the crucial question.

Ashish Ranjan is an election researcher and co-founder of Data Action Lab for Emerging Societies.

At a time when the court of law is expected to be sensitive and neutral to all and bring a positive change in the society, a sexist remark by the Patna High Court (HC) about “no need to put on makeup” for a widow has stirred up controversy. So much so that the Supreme Court criticised the Patna HC for its comment on September 25, and instead called it “highly objectionable”.
The incident occurred when the SC was hearing an appeal by seven people who were accused of murder and convicted by both the Trial Court and later by the Patna HC. The seven people were accused of abduction and murder of a woman in 1985, allegedly to obtain a house which belonged to her father.
What caused the controversy?
The Trial Court had initially convicted five of the seven men on charges of abduction and murder, and it had acquitted two men of all charges. When the accused appealed to the HC, it upheld the decision on the five people who were convicted of murder. Meanwhile, it also convicted the other two, who were earlier acquitted, on charges of abduction and murder of the victim.
As per reports, no concrete evidence was found that the victim was abducted from the particular house on the fateful day; it was only the late victim’s brother-in-law who had alleged that she was living there. Meanwhile, after the incident when an investigating officer (IO) checked the premises he could only find some make-up from the room. It was also recorded that another woman, a widow, used to live there. However, instead of not considering this an incomplete evidence of the victim living in that house, the HC instead assumed and said that the victim would have lived there as there was “no need to put on makeup” for a widow. Based on this, the HC had convicted all seven people accused of abduction and murder of the woman.
Now, hearing a plea by the seven accused, the SC took objection to the Patna HC’s ‘Widow Make-Up‘ comment and called it “highly objectionable”. A bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma said, reported LiveLaw, “In our opinion, the observation of the High Court is not only legally untenable but also highly objectionable. A sweeping observation of this nature is not commensurate with the sensitivity and neutrality expected from a court of law, specifically when the same is not made out from any evidence on record.”
The SC also acquitted all seven accused in the case.
What are your views on Patna HC’s remark about no use of make-up for widows? Do you think they were right or was it a very sexist remark, which questions our society’s morals? Tell us in the comment box below.

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Wednesday impressed upon constitutional court judges to be aware of their predispositions and exercise restraint to be able to remain faithful to their fundamental obligations to deliver objective and fair justice without making observations appearing to be misogynistic or hurtful towards certain communities.
A bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy said not only judges but lawyers and litigants appearing in person before court need to be careful about what they say as live-streaming and video conference facilities now take proceedings to millions outside court.
However, the bench was opposed to stopping live-streaming of court proceedings, as had been demanded by certain leaders of bar associations.
“This is a very important reminder to everyone. Answer is not to close everything and shut the doors but to remind us that court proceedings go much beyond the four walls of the courtroom,” the CJI-led bench said, indicating that transparency in judicial proceedings is key to sustain the immense faith the public reposes in it.
Appealing to stakeholders, particularly judges, to refrain from making casual remarks while participating in court proceedings, the bench said, “Casual observations may reflect a degree of individual bias, particularly when these are perceived to be directed against a particular community or gender.” “Courts, therefore, have to be careful not to make comments which may be construed as misogynistic or prejudicial to certain sections of our society,” it said.
“We emphasise this point, as it is necessary for every stakeholder to understand that the values which must not die are the values enshrined in the Constitution (justice, liberty, equality and fraternity),” the bench said.
While closing suo motu proceedings on Karnataka HC Judge V Srishananda’s unwarranted observations, the bench said the live streaming of court proceedings places an additional responsibility on all stakeholders to be conscious about the wider impact of casual observations on the country at large.
The bench said, “As judges, we are conscious of the fact that each individual bears a certain degree of accumulated predisposition based on experiences in their lives. At the same time, every judge should be aware of his predisposition.”

WATCH | Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay in conversation with Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly

Justice Ganguly said that the Aparajita Bill was a political gimmick to divert attention from the huge unrest over the recent rape and murder of a young doctor within the premises of Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Hospital.
| Video Credit:
Interview by Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay; Camera by Jayanta Shaw; Editing by Samson Ronald K., Produced by Jinoy Jose P.

On September 2, the West Bengal government passed the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, apparently in response to the gruesome rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. Since then, the Bill has been universally panned as regressive, unconstitutional, and anti-feminist, with activists calling it nothing more than a desperate attempt by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government to quell the rising public anger against it. It has also attracted criticism for several aspects such as mandatory death sentence, reducing the time frame for investigation and trial, and enhanced punishments under several sections of the existing laws such as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita; and the POCSO Act.

In an exclusive interview with Frontline, retired Supreme Court Justice and eminent jurist Asok Kumar Ganguly pointed out that “mandatory death sentence” had already been outlawed via a 1983 Supreme Court judgment and when the entire world is moving towards abolition of the death penalty, making it mandatory marks the Bill as regressive. He also spoke about how harsher laws do not impact the rate of crime, the societal changes needed to prevent rape, and more.