SIGNUP

“ Hamīñ Ast is an outstanding book that chronicles the turbulent life of Article 370. While it was intended to be a temporary provision, it lived on for seven decades. This concise book, in six chapters, gives a complete account of what led to the drafting of Article 370 and the gradual integration of that state through a series of orders.  As this Article is now history, this book helps us understand what led to its birth and what led to its unexpected but inevitable demise ”

“ This factual account of the birth, the steady erosion, and the final virtual disappearance of Article 370 makes fascinating reading for anyone who has followed developments in Jammu &  Kashmir since 1947. Free from the usual harsh bias on one side or the other in books on Jammu & Kashmir, Hamīñ Ast is a rare account which is well researched by the authors and based on actual events and documents. It is a useful reference book for students of constitutional law and politics. ”

“ One way of making sense of the events of August 2019 is to see them as the culmination of decades-old efforts toward full legal integration of J&K. In the process, Article 370 shape-shifted from a procedural compromise to a substantive cornerstone to, ultimately, a point where it could not withstand its own contradictions. Whenever the final word on Article 370 is spoken, what is certain is that Hamiñ Ast will surely be an indispensable guide in making sense of it. ”

“ Looked at in the kind of depth that Hamin Ast has, it becomes clear that the controversy over Article 370 has to do not simply with Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan, or Hindus and Muslims as those on the right and left maintain. What determines the weakness of the latter’s protests against its nullification is the second-class character of the Constitution’s rights and protections more generally.  ”