3 weeks ago
Old Article 370 slogan puts BJP on backfoot in Kashmir
Every year, people remember August 5 because of a big change to a special law in India.
The law was called Article 370.
It gave the region of Jammu and Kashmir its own special rules.
Seven years ago, those special rules were ended on August 5.
A political party called the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP for short, celebrated this day with rallies.
At one rally in a town called Anantnag, some party workers shouted a mean chant about the women of Kashmir.
The chant said that the honour of two women's names, Aez and Faez, was finished.
In Kashmir, those names are a loving way to speak about mothers.
Many years ago, another party called the National Conference used a similar chant to say that the special law protected women's honour.
People were angry, the BJP said sorry, and nine of the workers were punished — but the leader who led the rally was not.
On August 5, the seventh anniversary of Article 370's abrogation, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in Anantnag, South Kashmir, raised a slogan widely seen as demeaning Kashmiri women.
The slogan — 'Maklaw, Aezi Hund, Faezi hund izzat (the honour and dignity of Aez and Faez has ended)' — was a modified version of a National Conference chant from the 1977 Assembly elections, held after the Indira Gandhi–Sheikh Abdullah accord of 1975.
The original National Conference slogan linked the honour of Aez and Faez — names symbolising motherhood in Kashmiri society — to Article 370 and the region's special status.
The BJP apologised and suspended nine rally participants, saying the rally was 'unauthorised' and not organised or authorised by its District Unit Anantnag; no action was taken against rally leader Sofi Mohammad Yousuf.
National Conference leaders Nasir Aslam Wani and Tanvir Sadiq, and Shia cleric Masroor Abbas Ansari, condemned the slogans as insults to Kashmiri women that undercut the BJP's empowerment narrative.
- Who
- BJP workers led by Sofi Mohammad Yousuf, the party's vice president for Jammu and Kashmir; condemned by National Conference leaders, including adviser to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and Shia cleric Masroor Abbas Ansari.
- What
- A rally marking the seventh anniversary of Article 370's abrogation raised a slogan seen as demeaning Kashmiri women, prompting a BJP apology and suspension of nine participants.
- Where
- Anantnag, South Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir.
- When
- August 5, the seventh anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370.
- Why
- The slogan, a reworked version of a 1977 National Conference chant linking women's honour to Article 370, was seen as contradicting the BJP's claim that abrogation brought equal rights to women.
Critics (opposition leaders and clerics)
BJP (party officials)
The Anantnag rally slogan
Critics (opposition leaders and clerics)
Critics say the chant insulted Kashmiri women and mothers and reflected a 'disturbing erosion of moral standards in politics.'
BJP (party officials)
The BJP apologised and called the rally unauthorised, saying it was not organised by its District Unit Anantnag, and suspended nine participants.
Article 370 and women's equality
Critics (opposition leaders and clerics)
The National Conference's original slogan held that Kashmiri women's honour — symbolised by Aez and Faez — was protected by Article 370 and special status.
BJP (party officials)
The BJP argues the abrogation paved the way for equal rights for women in the Union Territory, a claim critics say the slogan undercut.
Key facts
- Event
- Seventh anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370
- Rally date
- August 5
- Location
- Anantnag, South Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir
- Rally leader
- Sofi Mohammad Yousuf, BJP vice president for Jammu and Kashmir
- Slogan origin
- National Conference campaign chant from the 1977 Assembly elections
- BJP action
- Apology; suspension of nine rally participants
- Rally status
- Declared unauthorised by the BJP District Unit Anantnag
- Article 370 abrogated
- August 5, 2019
Quotes
Masroor Abbas Ansari
Separatist leader and Shia cleric
““Aez and Faez are not just names — they are our mothers, our sisters, our identity,””
indianexpress.com
““disturbing erosion of moral standards in politics””
indianexpress.com
Sources
Related news
BJP Faces Outrage Over Abusive Slogan on Kashmiri Mothers
BJP Suspends Nine Activists Over Derogatory Slogans Against Kashmiri Women
Kashmir Observes 7th Anniversary of Article 370 Scrapping
BJP leader Altaf Thakur apologises for anti-women slogans at rally
NC leaders protest Article 370 abrogation anniversary in Srinagar
Rival NC-BJP Protests Roil J&K as Police Halt Marches
Omar Abdullah Alleges Unequal Treatment of Srinagar Political Protests
BJP, National Conference Hold Rival Protests Across Srinagar Streets
BJP Protests NC Govt Over Unemployment, Price Hike in J&K
India Live Updates: J&K Protests, Court Hearing, Delhi Incidents
