National War Memorial of India

A war memorial is a building or a monument that is used as a remembrance of the victory and deaths of war heroes. The oldest war memorial in the world is found in Oxford city of United Kingdom. It was built in 1435 in memory of those killed in the war with France. Many nations saw massive devastation during World War 1 and war memorials became very common since then.

During British rule, thousands of Indian soldiers joined the British Indian Army during World War 1. Though England won this war against Germany the victory came after the loss of millions of soldiers including 70,000 Indian soldiers. India Gate was constructed in 1931 in memory of these brave soldiers.

Since independence in 1947, India faced several wars with neighbouring countries like Pakistan and China. Though several decades have passed after independence and many political parties came into power but none of them decided to have a war memorial in the memory of the killed war heroes. Recently in 2019 government of India inaugurated the country's first National War Memorial which is spread across 40 acres in the heart of Delhi.

National War Memorial of India includes the name of martyrs killed in below war and military operations:

• The Indo - Pakistani war in 1947
• The Annexation of Goa in 1961
• The Sino - Indian war in 1962
• The Indo - Pakistani war in 1965
• The Indo - Pakistani war in 1971
• The Indo - Pakistani war on Siachin conflict in 1985
• Operation Pawan of Sri Lanka in 1987
• Kargil war in 1999
• Operation Rakshak in 2005

This memorial has now become a distinct place to celebrate the war victories and pay respect to the sacrifices of martyrs. National War Museum is also getting in shape near this war memorial.

What is Article 370 and 35A?

Article 370 of the Indian constitution grants autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. It was a "Temporary, Transient and Special" provision designated to Jammu and Kashmir while writing the constitution of India.

Jammu and Kashmir region was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh. He was a Hindu king and his princely state had a population with a Muslim majority. He was willing to join India during the partition but his Muslim population was inclined towards Pakistan. Hence the Article 370 was introduced by presidential order as an incentive for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to join the Union of India.

Key highlights of Article 370 are as follows:

• Jammu and Kashmir citizens have dual citizenship (i.e. India and Kashmir).
• If Jammu and Kashmir women marry a person of any states of India, her citizenship to Jammu and Kashmir ends.
• A Pakistani resident gains Jammu and Kashmir citizenship if he marries Jammu and Kashmir citizen.
• Jammu and Kashmir citizen can buy land in any state of India but people from any other states cannot buy land in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly tenure is of 6 years whereas other states of India have tenure of 5 years.
• Jammu and Kashmir national flag is different from the national flag of India.
• The orders given by the Supreme Court of India are not valid in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Indian laws like RTI, RTE and CAG are not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Hindus and Sikhs are in minority in Jammu and Kashmir but they don't get a minority reservation of 16%.

Article 35A protects Jammu and Kashmir state in the defined constitutional form. This article permits special rights to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir and denies these rights to people outside of this state.

History of Indian Constitution:
Document of Accession that brought Jammu and Kashmir into India was signed on 26th October 1947. This document was exactly the same that was signed by 562 other princely states to merge into India. All the Document of Accession were conditional as there were 4 things that were kept in the power of the Union of India: External Affairs, Defence, Communication and Currency.

Few days before the constitution was concluded in writing the idea of Article 370 emerged. Sheikh Abdullah who was part of the assembly that wrote the constitution of India came to Nehru and said we are a Muslim majority state so what about the special status for us. He redirected to Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar who was chairman of the drafting committee but he rejected it.

Congress was in majority so Nehru thought if Congress adopts this the constitution assembly will automatically have to adopt it but it was rejected by everyone. So while his visit to London he asked Sardar to make sure this is included in the constitution.

As it was interim government and Sardar Patel and Nehru had a difficult relationship, so Sardar Patel did not want to plot against his prime minister so he had to comply. In order to safeguard he wrote two words preceding and defining this article saying that it is a temporary and transient provision.
So Article 370 as per its text is a temporary and transient provision in the constitution of India.

Jammu and Kashmir has a different constituency than India and Article 370 says that Jammu and Kashmir is an inalienable part of India. The Constitution of India has given privileges to minorities that are not available to majorities. The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir didn't even mention minority once, because 97% of Muslims there were coming under minority and 3% Hindus were becoming the majority.

Can Article 370 be removed?
Article 370 is a temporary provision and can be revoked if the assembly of Jammu and Kashmir convene on the revocation. Parliament of India also has the power to revoke this article by amending the constitution.