Srinagar: Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric and separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday said that the people of the Valley will hit the streets to resist “forcefully” any tampering of Article 35A of the Indian Constitution.

In his pre-namaz customary speech from the pulpit of Srinagar’s historic Grand Mosque, the Mirwaiz said that the people of Kashmir are “cautiously and carefully” watching the events around Article 35A as it comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court (SC) on August 6.

“Kashmiris will not take machinations against them lying down and will oppose them tooth and nail,” he said. Reiterating it in a tweet, he added, “People will hit the streets and resist it forcefully. The resulting consequences will entirely be the responsibility of those who will force people to take drastic steps”.

Article 35A empowers the J&K Legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents. It was added to the Constitution through a Presidential Order in 1954 issued by the then President in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 370 of the Constitution, with the concurrence of the Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 guarantees a special status to Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian Union.

However, a petition seeking removal of Article 35A is currently pending before a three-judge bench of the SC. An NGO, We the Citizens, believed to be an RSS think-tank, challenged 35A in the SC in 2014 on grounds that it was not added to the Constitution through amendment under Article 368 and that it was never presented before Parliament, and came into effect immediately.

In another case filed in the SC in July last year, two Kashmiri women argued that the state’s laws, flowing from Article 35A, had disenfranchised their children.

The SC is also hearing yet another plea challenging the validity of Article 370, which guarantees special status to J&K within the Indian Union. The petition challenged the April 11, 2017 order of the Delhi High Court rejecting a plea saying nothing survives in it as the Apex Court has already dismissed a similar prayer on the issue.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh had in September last year assured that the government at the Centre will not go against the sentiments of the people of J&K. “We’ll not go against sentiments of people,” he had said when asked about the Centre’s view of the question of abrogating Article 35A of the Constitution during a visit of Srinagar.