Kashmir, blessed with its natural resources and beauty and infamous for being subject to hardline territorial dispute has made its way into global headlines yet again. The revoking of Article 370, which saw Kashmir’s autonomy being snatched away, gave rise to political debates both in and outside India and have added sparks to India’s hostile relations with its neighbor Pakistan.
Kashmir has been a political hotbed since it joined India under controversial circumstances in 1947. Due to its strategic geopolitical location, Kashmir was free to join either Pakistan or India. However then Maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh acceded to join India to receive their protection against invading Pakistani troops. Much of Kashmir, a heavily Muslim dominant area, did not agree with the decision to join India and formed militant groups to disrupt the union. Pakistan, who felt that they have more of a claim over Kashmir due to its demography, aided the militants by supplying arms and ammunition. Since then Kashmir has been a battle-field for an on-going proxy war between the feuding neighbors. Pakistan took matters to the UN who pushed a resolution through referendum. However, both parties were unwilling to de-militarize the area and hence the referendum never took place. In July 1949, a ceasefire line was drawn and Kashmir was divided. Indian-administered Kashmir was given privileges under various forms of constitutional autonomy by the Indian central government.
Kashmir’s autonomy was enshrined by the Indian constitution in its Article 370 which gave Kashmiris the right to form their own constitution, have a separate state flags and disallowed anyone except residents of Kashmir to own properties in this state. This protected the Muslim majority demography of Kashmir and allowed it to be a mostly independent state except on matters of defense, communication and foreign affairs which was still controlled by the central government.
On 5th August 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to abolish Article 370. Whilst this came as a surprise to most Indians, the people of Kashmir were long in anticipation of such a move by the Hindu nationalist party. On the days leading up to 5th August, telephone networks and internet lines were cut off in Kashmir. Srinagar, capital of Kashmir, was cutoff from electricity. Large number of troops had been brought into Kashmir and deployed on the streets. Public gatherings were banned and prominent politicians like Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister of the region were put under house arrest. The feeling among the general people was that Article 35, which was a sub-clause of Article 370 defining permanent residents of Kashmir, was to be removed. Hence, the news of the abolishment of Article 370, in all its forms, was greeted with shock anger and widespread mob protests. However due to the absence of electricity or internet and being in a state of complete lockdown, coverage of the on goings of the state has been scarce.
BJP had vowed to revoke Article 370 in their pre-election mandate, successfully tapping into the Hindu nationalist identity of a large number of voters. The decision hopes to bring new investments in the region which is under developed compared to other states of India. The annual GDP value of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018-19 was 17 billion USD whereas the average GDP of individual states in India was 150 billion USD. As outsiders are now allowed to buy property and set up businesses in Kashmir, the central government hopes to bolster the economy of Kashmir and reduce conflict and poverty in the region.
Needless to say, the decision of the central Government faced serious backlash. The Kashmiris claimed that the government’s agenda is to invite a demographic shift in the region and dilute the long-held cultures of the Muslim-majority state. They also fear gerrymandering as talks of splitting up Jammu and Kashmir have been evolving for the past couple of weeks. The abolishment of Article 370 has been denounced by the two major political parties of Kashmir, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference (NC). However, the abolishment of Article 370 has worked in favour of the highest caste of Hindus in Jammu who have welcomed the action of the central government view this as an end to the pain and sufferings inflicted upon them by the Muslims.
The people most effected by the government lockdown are the apolitical Kashmiris. They live in fear and uncertainty and are genuinely unconcerned by the political landscape. Businesses have come to a halt and daily necessities such as food and medicine, are scarce as trucks carrying supplies are not being allowed to enter the state because of the curfew that has been imposed. Armed troops are not allowing patients to visit local hospitals and all sorts of government services are unavailable. Amidst this situation, Kashmir celebrated Eid-ul-Adha, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, behind locked doors.
India’s relations with Pakistan has worsened since 5th of August. Armed revolts have existed in India-administered Kashmir for the past three decades and India has always blamed Pakistan for funding the militants. Pakistan has always refused to take the blame. Pakistan sees the abolition of Article 370 as “illegal” and Pakistani president Mr. Imran Khan has vowed to take this situation to the secirty council meeting in the United Nations. Pakistan was also prompt in downgrading its political and economic ties with India. Jammu and Kashmir is to be broken to two parts and one of them is to consist of Ladakh, a hilly area which shares its borders with China-administered Tibet. China was unconcerned about sharing borders with Ladakh when Kashmir was autonomous. However, as Ladakh is now under central rule of India, China has expressed security concerns. China also happens to be the only nation with a Veto power that is vociferously condemning India’s actions in the UN. However, that has led to very little impact on the grass root level.
As debates rage on both in and outside India, Kashmiris wait for their fates to be written by a third party, in darkness, uncertainty and fear for their lives.
Al Wasee M. Fahimuddaula
Executive editor