Jammu and Kashmir After Abrogation Of Article 370

Article 370, over the decades, was diluted many times with the consent of the Kashmiris and the elected state government to facilitate integration, better administration and good governance.

Despite these dilutions, however, Article 370 bore great symbolic and psychological significance for Kashmiris. It also displayed India’s asymmetric federalism, which granted differential rights to certain federal subunits, often in recognition of their distinctive ethnic identity

Before the unilateral decision of New Delhi to abrogate Article 370 and split the state of J&K into two union territories, all pro-India Kashmiri politicians were arrested.

Thousands of security personnel were sent in and the Valley was clamped down with severe and all-encompassing communications blackout.

Jammu and Kashmir After Abrogation Of Article 370 According to official data, Kashmir witnessed 1,999 stone-pelting incidents in 2019 as compared to 1,458 in 2018 and 1,412 in 2017. According to recent estimates of the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) headed by the Intelligence Bureau, 400 militants are active in the Valley, increasing the possibility of heightened insurgency activities in even the border districts of Rajouri-Poonch and Kishtwar. Alarmed, the government backed its 5 August decision by putting the entire region under an unprecedented high-security grid and a communications blackout.

Six months later, New Delhi seems less sure of its future steps. While the government – both through the office of the Lieutenant Governor in the newly carved Union Territory and at the Centre – has yet to conduct any proactive measures to regain the trust of the people and normalise the situation, even as its actions have dented India’s global image as a liberal democracy.

The abrogation of Article 370 has also led to the internationalisation of the Kashmir conflict—an eventuality that the NDA government had resisted, claiming Kashmir to be India’s internal issue.

In the last five months, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has met two times for closed-door meetings on the situation in Kashmir.

The US Congress has passed two house resolutions on Kashmir, condemning New Delhi’s decision. The House resolution No. 745 that was introduced in the House of Representatives last year by Indian-American representative Pramila Jayapal has gained 36 co-sponsors, 34 of whom belong to the Democratic Party and two, Republicans.

This increased focus on the situation in Kashmir (from the UNSC and the US, in particular) has forced New Delhi to invite foreign diplomats and lawmakers to the Kashmir Valley on ‘fact-finding’ trips. The first one was in October 2019, when the government invited a group of European Union lawmakers to the Valley. Those who came represented some of the EU’s far-right political parties like France’s Rassemblement, Poland’s Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, the UK’s Brexit Party, Gemany’s Alternative für Deutschland, Italy’s Lega Nord Party, Belgium’s Vlaams Belang and Spain’s VOX.

As international criticism mounted, the second group of foreign diplomats including the Ambassadors and High Commissioners to India of 15 nations were taken on an official visit to Jammu and Kashmir. They included diplomats from the US, South Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Fiji, Maldives, Norway, the Philippines, Morocco, Argentina, Peru, Niger, Nigeria, Guyana and Togo. The diplomats of the European Union skipped the visit and insisted on meeting the detained political leaders on another date.

Today, life in Kashmir is slowly and steadily limping towards normalcy. However, the Valley stands in the midst of an uneasy calm that may explode at the slightest provocation from across the border.