Building The Women Power In Union Territories Jammu-Kashmir And Ladakh

“I am confident that the recent changes made in Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh would be of immense benefit to those regions. They will enable the people to access and enjoy the same rights, same privileges, and same facilities as their fellow citizens in the rest of the country,” said President Ram Nath Kovind in the address on the eve of the 73rd Independence Day.

He was referring to the decision taken by the parliament of the country, on 05 August, to modify the provisions of Article 370 and Article 35-A in a manner that would facilitate a complete integration of the Jammu & Kashmir state with the Indian Union. The parliament also approved bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories comprising of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh respectively.

Among the many benefits listed as an outcome of this monumental decision, women empowerment has been given the maximum significance. It is so because women, under the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and due to provisions of Article 35-A, were being denied full-fledged rights to land and property in the state.

To put it simply, such women who were state subjects but married a person who was not a state subject forfeited legal and ancestral rights to their own property in the state. This was because of the definition of a “permanent resident” of Jammu and Kashmir as given Article 35-A of the Constitution.

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