The methodology adopted was interviews and group discussions with participants from the University of Kashmir, the Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora, and other Kashmiris, especially those from the rural areas of Pulwama and Shopian in South Kashmir.
There were 180 participants (100 students, 60 farmers, 15 businessmen, and five street vendors), who engaged in small group discussions, where the author asked them to share their opinions and insights on the Kashmir conflict, as well as their feelings and views after the revocation of Article 370.
The abrogation of autonomy without the consent of the Kashmiris has raised the threat perception among the people of the Valley. The participants in the group discussions said that even though the ‘autonomy’ granted to J&K under Article 370 may have been more of a ruse by pro-India political parties in the Valley, it had symbolic and emotional significance for Kashmir’s people. After 5 August, people are feeling a heightened sense of fear and suspicion regarding their identity and cultural issues such as religion, customs and language.
This reinforces the findings of a September 2019 study by the New Delhi-based Concerned Citizens Group (CCG), which says, “the abrogation of Article 370 will necessarily bring outsiders to the Valley, because they will be packaged as development projects. The third strategy, the locals believe the government may use for demographic change is to create settlement enclaves for Kashmiri Pandits and ex-servicemen (Sainik Colonies).
The suspicions are not mitigated by certain incidents where politicians in Kashmir and in New Delhi have engaged in falsehoods. For example, on 23 September 2019, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said that around “50,000 temples” have been closed down in J&K over the years, and that some of them have been destroyed and idols defaced. “We have ordered a survey of such temples,” he said, adding that the government plans to reopen these temples soon. However, according to Sanjay Tickoo, a prominent Kashmiri Pandit leader who heads Kashmiri Pundit Sangarish Samiti (KPSS) and a Srinagar resident, there are only 4,000 temples in J&K.
In the newly-formed Union Territory of J&K, the central government is trying to formulate new rules that will give domicile rights to residents over land and in government jobs. This has been a response to the perception that the unemployment rate in J&K is higher than the national average. Domicile rights have also been a long-standing demand of the Dogras of Jammu and the Buddhists of Ladakh. While most of those interviewed by this author chose to remain silent on the issue of domicile rights, a few expressed their fears that such a move will further limit the employment opportunities for the local youth and also lead to a demographic disruption in the Valley.
Their doubts may have been proven right when the J&K High Court on 31 December 2019 invited applications from across the nation for filling 33 vacant non-gazetted posts. The notification was cancelled after opposition parties in Jammu criticised the move and demanded enactment of laws for safeguarding the rights and interests of the youth in J&K.
While the notification has since been withdrawn, it has been reported that the Centre is examining other options regarding the issues of opening up jobs, ownership of land, and seats in professional and college education to non-Kashmiris. These arrangements are in line with those in other states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other Northeastern states, which are covered under Article 371 of the Constitution.
The absence of any outreach by New Delhi after 5 August has created more confusion and anxiety. As the revocation of Article 370 makes laws of the Union of India automatically applicable in J&K, it also makes the erstwhile laws of state ultra-vires (or they no longer apply). The question is why draconian laws enacted by the erstwhile state assembly such as the Public Safety Act (PSA). are still operative; also that hundreds of youth, civil society members and even former chief ministers are languishing in jails. These contradictions have made the people feel that the abrogation of Article 370 under the excuse of “one constitution, one rule of law,” has only made them second-class citizens. They also want the immediate and unconditional release of all the detainees who were arrested for alleged offences under the PSA and continue to languish in jails.
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