Public gatherings were banned, tourists were asked to leave, telephone and internet services were shut down, schools were closed, and prominent leaders of the opposition were detained or placed under house arrest. This isn’t a piece about Pol Pot’s Cambodia, but about India, the world’s largest “democratic” regime. On August 5, 2019, the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir (“Kashmir”) was plunged into a colonial-era horror story when the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (translation: Indian People’s Party) government unilaterally abrogated constitutional provisions giving special rights and autonomy to Kashmir.
Under the new system, the former state of Jammu & Kashmir will now be divided into two Union Territories (federally administered regions): namely, Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir. The new territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been generously given the right to have a Legislative Assembly, but the federal government will retain control over “police” and “public order” – probably the two most important subjects for one of the most volatile and militarized regions in the world. Additionally, India abrogated Article 35A of the Constitution which allowed only permanent residents of Kashmir to hold property in the state. This allows the Hindu nationalist majority government to surreptitiously alter the demographics of India’s only Muslim-majority region, a policy reminiscent of Chinese tactics to alter demographics in Xinjiang.
To help understand this in a Canadian context, here’s a very reductive analogue of the situation: Imagine that Canada amends the Constitution Act, without Quebec’s consent, to make Quebec a federally-administered territory instead of a province. Canada also strips Quebec of any special rights it may have, and places almost half of the Canadian army in Quebec. Canada then paves the way for English-speakers to storm Quebec, potentially destroying their French-speaking identity. That’s what’s happening in Kashmir – an erosion of the state’s unique identity.
But why is Kashmir special? When India attained independence, she was divided into India (a Hindu-majority state) and what is currently known as Pakistan (a Muslim-majority state). Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region, was ruled by a Hindu king, posing a unique problem to this religion-based partition. While the king pondered over choosing to join India or Pakistan, Pakistani-backed forces began attacking Kashmir. Kashmir sought the Indian army’s assistance and was offered this assistance on the condition that Kashmir would accede to India. When Kashmir acceded to India, she was promised a referendum, one that has not been held even today and is unlikely to be held in the near future. When the Constitution of India was enacted, Kashmir was given special status in view of the circumstances surrounding her accession to India.
India maintains that her actions are necessary for the maintenance of peace and public order in the region. Authorities also maintain that Kashmir today is peaceful and returning to normalcy. However, much to the surprise of the Indian government, deploying more than 600,000 troops in the region has not brought peace, just more protests and killings. Since August 5, there have been numerous reports of civilian deaths at the hands of Indian forces and there have been more than 700 protests since the abrogation of Kashmir’s special constitution status. News reports indicate that there are more than 4000 people in preventive detention in Kashmir.
When India attained independence from her oppressive colonial regime, the country vowed to constitute itself into a “sovereign democratic republic”, but the India of today is far from it. Prime Minister Modi’s India is totalitarian; through the entire process, Kashmir was not asked what she wanted and her so-called integration with the rest of India was non-consensually thrust upon her. Kashmir’s castration at the hands of the Modi government paints a grim picture. The India of 2019 mirrors the same colonial oppressors she sought to liberate herself from in 1947 – far removed from the ideals she proposed to embody. As of today, it has now been over 40 days since the government of India undertook the exercise of destroying Kashmir’s unique identity under the garb of “national integration”, and India continues to flagrantly violate the human rights of Kashmiris.
I must acknowledge the privilege that I have to write this piece: if I were a Kashmiri writing this in Kashmir, I would be detained for trying to breach public order, and if I were in any other part in India, I would expose myself to public condemnation and potential charges.