SIX long years of unprecedented subjugation and injustice have passed.
In today’s so-called free world, relentless oppression, denial of rights and the systematic erasure of Kashmiri identity continue unabated. On August 5, 2019, India stripped the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) of their constitutional autonomy by revoking Articles 370 and 35-A—upending a delicate legal and historical framework. This was not merely a constitutional amendment; it was the forcible erasure of Kashmir’s identity, rights and aspirations. Article 370, dating back to 1949, granted IIOJK special autonomous status, allowing it to make its own laws—except in matters of foreign affairs, defence and communications. Article 35-A, introduced in 1954, further safeguarded the exclusive rights of Kashmiris to own property and access government jobs and scholarships. Together, these provisions represented India’s early admission that Kashmir was a disputed territory—not an integral part, as later falsely claimed.
India’s move blatantly violated United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 47 (April 21, 1948), which mandates a plebiscite to let the people of Kashmir decide their future. In the early years, even leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru assured that the Kashmiris’ will would be respected. “The question of accession should be decided by plebiscite or referendum under International auspices,” Nehru himself wrote to Pakistan’s Prime Minister on 21 November 1947. Yet, India betrayed this solemn promise. No Indian government tried to play with the special status of Kashmir. But Hindutva driven BJP ventured to execute this undemocratic change. Modi’s government dismissed the elected state government, imposed Governor’s rule and then used that same unelected governor to “consent” to the abrogation—an act described by constitutional expert A.G. Noorani as “fraudulent and illegal.”
India justified its move as a step toward “development and integration.” But six years later, this claim rings hollow. The beautiful region has become the most militarized zone on earth, where civil liberties are throttled, press is muzzled, internet blackouts are routine and dissent is treated as sedition. It is slowly and gradually becoming the Gaza of the South Asia as the Modi’s Hindutva regime is following the footsteps of Zionist Netanyahu doctrine.
Economic strangulation in IIOJK has intensified. Kashmiris have been deprived of land ownership protections, local jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. The so-called “development” has benefited only outsiders and regime-linked corporations, while Kashmiris face record unemployment and surveillance. Land has been seized under pretexts like “development projects” and “military infrastructure,” amounting to a Great Land Grab. Most insidious, however, is the ongoing demographic engineering. India has issued domicile certificates to over 3.4 million non-locals, now eligible to vote in local elections—an existential threat to the Muslim-majority character of Kashmir.
The revocation of Articles 370 and 35-A was never about prosperity; it was about political conquest, silencing dissent and paving the way for Hindutva colonialism in the only Muslim-majority region under Indian control. The BJP’s Hindutva narrative demanded a symbolic victory and Kashmir became its chosen stage. India’s illegal abrogation of Article 370 marks not just a constitutional fraud but a profound moral collapse. It signals that brute force now dictates the fate of a people who were once promised self-determination. The lingering question six years on is not what India took from Kashmir—but what Kashmiris will reclaim and why the so-called free world remains blind to one of history’s gravest oppressions. —(To be continued)
—The writer is an alumnus of QAU, MPhil scholar and a freelance columnist, based in Islamabad.
