Kashmir, beyond legalities: Modi govt needs to recognise the essential dignity of its people | The Indian Express

Kashmir, beyond legalities: Modi govt needs to recognise the essential dignity of its people | The Indian Express

Written by Dr Ashwani Kumar |Updated: September 10, 2019 10:28:28 am

The writer, a former union law minister, is a senior advocate in the Supreme Court. Views expressed are his own.

Kashmir, beyond legalities: Modi govt needs to recognise the essential dignity of its people

The challenge before the government, therefore, is to win an uncoerced allegiance of the Kashmiri people by recognising their dignity and identity — the “ultimate driver of history”, as Hegel said. Whether the government can do enough to assure the Kashmiri people of its sincerity in this regard is the question.

The contra arguments advanced in defence of the decision are not without their appeal.

A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is set to hear in October a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Modi-Shah gamble in Kashmir. Substantial questions of law premised on the first principles of constitutionalism arise, which will need to be addressed by the Court.