Kashmir has long been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan, with both parties claiming that they are the rightful representatives of the land and its people. Due to its strategic geopolitical location, the Kashmir valley has been eyed by both countries as a crucial aspect of cementing their positions as a major player in the South-East Asian region.
Currently, both countries control different chunks of Kashmir, separated by the Line of Control which is the ceasefire demarcation as well as the de facto border. The region has witnessed a lot of unrest and turbulence, most recently among which is a terror attack that happened in the month of February in Pulwama.
A person in a car laden with explosives rammed into a convoy transporting CRPF personnel, killing 40 jawans and himself in the process. This attack was in line with a worrying trend of increased terrorist incidents, civilian and military deaths in Kashmir since 2014 (which is when the BJP first won an absolute majority at the centre and formed its government).
India retaliated by carrying out airstrikes in Balakot where suspected terrorists from the JeM (the Pakistani terror outfit active in Kashmir which the suicide attacker had pledged allegiance to in a video message) were known to be living and training. This led to an escalation of the situation whereby Indian and Pakistani fighter planes were engaged in a dogfight, which resulted in the eventual capture of an Indian pilot by Pakistani forces. The pilot was released by Pakistan as a gesture of goodwill on their part and played an important role in deescalating cross-border tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
About a fortnight ago, American President Donald Trump in a press conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, had said that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked for his help to mediate the age-old Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan. President Trump and Prime Minister Khan are banking on each other, the former wants to leave Afghanistan and the latter wants to gain legitimacy.
The unexpected announcement of President Trump can also be interpreted in the light of USA and Pakistan’s strategic alignment with each other. Ministers from the Modi cabinet rushed to his defence and rubbished President Trump’s claims as being untrue. Although speculations were rife about why PM Modi chose to remain silent on the matter and delegated defending duty to his foreign and defence ministers, one can discern the peculiar predicament PM Modi might have found himself in. The sensitivity with which matters of international relations are to be dealt with might have dictated that PM Modi ought not to directly contradict President Trump, a world leader the Modi government has been clearly trying to appease. The Indian press largely viewed this as a gaffe (a telling one nonetheless) on the part of President Trump because of India’s well-known stance on Kashmir and third-party mediation.
In the wake of President Trump’s comments, India upped the ante by moving thousands of troops into Kashmir. (The move may or may not be related to Trump’s comments.)
Kashmir has unfortunately become one of the most militarised zones in the world so naturally, questions were raised about the increased mobilisation. The Indian establishment tried to explain away the massive security drive as being a consequence of its aim to strengthen counter-insurgency operations in the state.
Kashmir On Complete Lockdown
The government also cancelled Amarnath yatra and advised all devotees on the religious pilgrimage to suspend their journeys immediately. Several prominent politicians and mainstream leaders such as Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti (both, ex-Chief Ministers of the state), Sajjad Lone were detained and arrested. Curfew-like restrictions have been imposed in the state.
Article 144 of the CrPc is in effect, which prohibits more than four people gathering and deems it to be an unlawful assembly. Similar barriers have been placed on the citizens’ access to the internet and telephonic services. This communication blackout means that crucial, Kashmiri voices are missing from the conversation. Locals stocked up on essential supplies and waited indoors with bated breath to see if the ruling government would actually go to the extent of scrapping Article 370, one of their pre-poll planks and a promise, in favour of which the ruling party has vociferously advocated.
The Abrogation Of Article 370
Article 370 of the Indian Constitution grants special constitutional status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is an important symbol representing the terms under which the state of J&K acceded to India. It gives the state certain unique privileges with regards to determining questions of citizenship, property etc. The Supreme Court of India has categorically stated that Article 370 is a permanent part of the constitution. Therefore, it should only be amended with the constituent assembly’s approval. However, J&K’s assembly has been suspended and Governor’s rule was imposed, followed by the President’s rule. The Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, announced in a speech in the Rajya Sabha the government’s decision to trifurcate the state so as to convert J&K into a combined Union Territory with a legislature, while Ladakh will become a UT without a legislature. Shah spoke about the government’s decision to revoke Article 370 which granted “special status” to the state of J&K.
Large swathes of public opinion in mainland India hailed this as a victory, many of whom see it as a success of Shah’s Chanakya Niti. The idea is that this move will lead to an eventual but full integration of J&K with India, as was originally intended.
One can’t help but feel like this is a diversionary tactic to distract the masses from pressing issues which actually concern their well-being like unemployment, farmers’ crisis, and even seasonal events like periodic floods in Assam or Mumbai. There also exists an undercurrent of retributive justice in terms of finally having avenged Kashmiri pandits who were forced to flee the valley amid death threats by militants in the ’90s.
Clampdown On Civil Liberties
The mass exodus of the pandits from the valley is saddening, but it must not be used as an excuse to justify further violence on the Kashmiri people. Also, state-sanctioned suspension of fundamental rights should be considered significantly more alarming than aggressions by anti-state elements. The sheer, brute majority of the BJP, along with the support of allies like AAP, BJD, TRS, YSR Congress, BSP (regional parties which are otherwise hell-bent on preserving the federal nature of our democracy) means that the ruling party will have a smooth sailing in both houses of the parliament, which will ratify its resolutions. But the inhabitants of the valley are likely to feel hoodwinked by the aforementioned person’s Machiavellian approach to determining J&K’s future in the Indian scheme of things. The clampdown on civil liberties and the refusal to conduct a referendum has aggravated the perception of India as a hostile force. Many of the State’s leading politicians and activists have tweeted their objections, condemning the state’s harsh approach in this sensitive matter.
I am of the opinion that the Indian state is undermining its own legitimacy by ignoring the inhabitants’ long-standing demands for self-determination and ‘azadi’ (freedom). The proposed change appears to be a direct attack on the federal fabric of Indian democracy because the state assembly’s approval is being circumvented. In fact, J&K’s statehood is being unfairly snatched away from it. Until free and fair elections are conducted in the state and elected representatives of J&K nod their assent to the proposed changes, I am going to continue to feel unsettled about how unsuitably the world’s largest democracy is conducting itself.
The lack of a clear, consistent policy on Kashmir where stakeholders are involved to reach a sustainable, mutually satisfactory framework is a sign of the current administration’s mismanagement of the Kashmir issue. The current chain of events means that the will of the people is being forcefully appropriated to suit the machinations of the majority. This disturbs me deeply because integrating J&K is also about winning the hearts of the people. Duping people of their most urgent desire is the exact opposite of a confidence-building measure. The manner in which India is treating its Muslim-majority state is symptomatic of a much bigger problem: strong-arming its citizens into submission.