Kashmir & Art 370: History, Abrogation , Aftermath

Ashfaaq Kashmiri
After the accession of J&K state to India through a trickest interpolation in 1947 Pakistan invaded the state. This conflict took the shape of an international dispute. In this dispute both India and Pakistan claimed J&K as their integral part. Pakistan declared their part as Azad Kashmir while as Indian part was given a special status through article 370. The Article gave the state the power to have its own flag, constitution and complete autonomy over its internal matters . The special status of Indian part was deemed permanent with the constituent assembly of J&K state dissolving itself without recommending the abrogation of this article. Elections were held in the state at intervening times and opponents always blamed winning party of vote rigging through Indian loyalty. The worst situation occured in 1987 when MUF members were defeated through the worst form of vote rigging which gave rise to militancy. From 1989 till 219 the situation became bone of contention for Indian politicians and agencies at large. The rise of the Right wing Hindutva party(BJP)in 2014 at the centre changed the scenario all together. There was a change in approach towards Kashmir. The government adopted a Iron fist policy towards Kashmir. There was more violence and bloodshed in the valley in the subsequent years .The 2018 was the bloodiest year with more than 350 civilians losing their lives in the conflict engulfed region. The February of 2019 saw the both countries almost going to a full scale war after India alleged Pakistan of orchestrating the Suicide attack on Indian Military convoy which killed 40 Indian troops.The abrogation came in the same year on 5Th Aug when Indian government decided to bifurcate the state into two union territories and then revoked the special status of the erstwhile state by abrogating the article 370. The whole Kashmir was put under blockade and complete communication blackout was imposed . The mainstream leadership(NC,PDP..) of the valley was put under arrest with the former 3 chief minsters and an IAS topper turned politician slapped with PSAs. The whole of Kashmir was turned into a virtual jail. Preceding this decision there was large deployment of central forces into the state 140 thousand( Approx)with 700 thousand already present in the valley leading to large scale chaos in the state with people running around to get supplies with certain belief and comprehension that something big was about to happen and at the same time various govt. officers trying to pacify the situation by repeatedly announcing that everything was normal and the deployment of troops was just security routine.
It is not only the question of humanity to speak against the ill policies of government but it is rather the question of ethics whether you are ready to stand on the right side. It is the duty of every individual of the country to make sure that India doesn’t loose its soul of secularism and democracy under the communal slogans of Hindu Rastra.
The decision made to abrogate the article was undemocratic and unparliamentary. The abrogation needed the consent of the constituent assembly of the erstwhile state. Gautam Bhatia, a lawyer says the in abrogating the article 370, the centre has taken its own consent(The Telegraph 06.08.19). According to Anas Tanwir a supreme court lawyer, he says “They have used a brilliant loophole in the law. They used the power under Article 370(1) to amend Article 367.” Keeping aside the legality of this issue, abrogating the Article 370 without the local population having a say has further led to the alienation and dissent towards the country. It is has given the Kashmiri masses one more reason to discord against the secular and democratic structure of India. There are many social issues of national importance before the Article370 which India needed to sort out. The Gau Raksha violence, Mob lynching and Love jihad violence are the topics for another day discussion. Coming back to the abrogation of Article 370, the reason given for the abrogation was that it will lead to the overall development of the valley and eliminate the terrorism in the valley. Yet, after nearly eight months the people of the valley are uncertain. The curfew and the communication blackout succeeding the decision took a heavy tool on the overall scenario of the valley. The people were confined to homes not able to move, the economic looses ran in thousands of crores. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce puts the figure at 18000 crores. The local leadership accuses the central government of trying to change the demography of the valley. The question which remains to be answered is why it has been so easy for the people of India to remain buttoned up when it comes to Kashmir. They watch as mere bystanders while the govt brutalises the Kashmiri masses. It is not only the question of humanity to speak against the ill policies of government but it is rather the question of ethics whether you are ready to stand on the right side. It is the duty of every individual of the country to make sure that India doesn’t loose its soul of secularism and democracy under the communal slogans of Hindu Rastra.
( The author is PG level student at IUST Awantipora. Views are his own, [email protected])