How is Kashmir?

 Bishaldeep Kakati

(deep.kakati99@gmail.com)

The outlook of Kashmir can give anyone the perception that it is nature’s heaven on earth. With snow-clad mountains as well as vivid natural scenery, it often remains a favourite destination for any globetrotter. But conspicuously, the history relating to its demarcation and shared boundaries with international countries and the consequences thereby in terms of demography and religion-based politics have created major disturbances in the region. Kashmir has often battled with separatist groups, terrorism, a sudden outbreak of armed protests, stone pelting, and many other incidents that have led to the breakdown of law and order in the region. These reprehensible incidents have always put a brake on the proper growth, development, and prosperity of the region.

The issues in Kashmir have actually arisen because of its strategic location, as a result of which both India and Pakistan want to claim it. However, the genesis of the Kashmir conflict is mainly because of the way the subcontinent of India was partitioned after the British Raj. In fact, post-partition, the biggest tension for the newly formed countries of India and Pakistan was the future of the then-princely state of Kashmir.

Maharaja Hari Singh ruled Kashmir during that pre-independence period. But post-partition, Maharaja Hari Singh did not want to join Pakistan, but at the same time he was reluctant to accede to India as well, for fear of losing his political power. The king, therefore, entered into an agreement with the new Pakistani government whereby Pakistan would look after the operation of communication and railroad services in Kashmir. But the Muslim revolt in the region of Poonch and subsequent communal clashes led to the invasion of Kashmir by Pathan tribesmen from Pakistan on October 22, 1947. Following that, Maharaja requested military intervention from the then Governor General of India, Lord Mountbatten, and in fact, on that day itself, the Instrument of Accession was executed. Subsequently, Indian military troops were sent to Kashmir, and then it gained control of the entire region except the border areas. And since then, there has been constant armed as well as unarmed rebellion from Pakistan, directly or indirectly, to get hold of Kashmir from India.

Kashmir has been witness to some of the worst incidents in the history of India. The period of 1989 to 2002 saw the outbreak of insurgency and the coming up of groups like the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and Hizbul Mujahideen Lashkar-e-Taiba, which created a lot of chaos and killed many common civilians. In fact, the 1990 Handwara massacre, strikes and protests in Srinagar in 2001, as well as the unarmed mass movement’ in the summers of 2008 and 2010, also led to disturbances of law and order in the region.

Unfortunately, these incidents continued, and Kashmir more often than not occupied the news headlines, either for insurgent attacks or situations of unrest. But in the 21st century, efforts and desires were set forth by different governments as well as political parties to bring harmony to the region.

Data reveals that prior to the 2009 elections, the BJP had 12 significant mentions of Kashmir, and prior to the 2014 elections, the party had 6 significant mentions of Kashmir in the election manifestos. The BJP’s manifesto in context of Article 370 read, “Article 370 poses a psychological barrier for full integration of the people of Jammu and Kashmir with the national mainstream. The BJP remains committed to the abrogation of the article”. Accordingly, as the BJP government came to power in the centre, it revoked the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir and reduced it to a union territory on August 5, 2019. In fact, six months prior to abrogation, Kashmir even witnessed another horrific situation of interstate crisis and escalation of tension between India and Pakistan pertaining to suicide bombings on Indian Security Forces in South Kashmir. But after almost 5 years of the abrogation of Article 370, it is important to analyse the changes the abrogation of the article has brought to Kashmir.

Data reveals that the abrogation of Article 370 has somehow stabilised the situation of unrest and disturbance of law and order in the region. This is because, according to statistics, the number of active militants in the region has fallen to a little above 100 by the end of 2022, compared to 250 at the end of 2019. The region has also witnessed a change in the mindset of the youth, as only 100 Kashmiris joined militant groups in 2022 as compared to 143 local youth in 2019.

A common dilemma in Kashmir has also been the street protests in the region, which have often led to disturbances of law and order in the region. But in this regard as well, there has been significant improvement. From 584 law and order-related incidents in 2019 in the region, there have been just 26 incidents of this nature in 2022. In fact, there has been a steady dip in the killing of civilians by militants as well. From the 44 civilians killed in 2019, there have been only 29 incidents of this nature in 2022. Furthermore, there has been a noticeable 51% drop in the killing of police personnel as well. The figures therefore quite rightly justify the statement of the hon’ble Home Minister of India when he stated that there has been a 34% decrease in militant activities, a 64% decrease in the deaths of security forces, and a 90% fall in civilian deaths in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. Furthermore, the mass detention of some 3800 suspected stone pelters and ‘miscreants’ under the Public Safety Act has further enhanced the law and order of the state. Kashmir, for the first time in three decades, has also witnessed the almost proper running of schools after three decades.

Taking into consideration the statistics and figures, it won’t be wrong to conclude that the government has been successful in containing the situation of unrest in Kashmir to a greater extent. However, it still has to carefully deal with the prospect of democracy in the region, as the status of the region has been changed from a state to a union territory. The development of any region is also dependent on the prospects of infrastructural growth and economic development; as such, the government also needs to formulate appropriate policies for ensuring the all-round development of the region. But in the nascent stage, the scrapping of Article 370 can be considered the foundational step towards a prosperous and peaceful Kashmir.