A mixed bag three years after scrapping of Kashmir's special status

Three years ago on 5 August, Prime Minister Narender Modi’s government scrapped the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir abrogating Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which had allowed the region limited autonomy.

Police personnel on patrol at a blocked road during restrictions imposed to foil 8th Muharram procession in Srinagar-Umar. Qadir. © Umar Ganie

Modi said a “new era” of development was beginning in the region where the scrapped provisions “had only given terrorism, separatism, nepotism and massive corruption”.

The Muslim-majority region, which has a strong sense of tradition and identity separate from India, was divided into two federally controlled union territories: Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh.

In the three years, the authorities have managed to stifle the Kashmir separatist movement by jailing its leaders or intimidating them into silence. Many top separatist leaders died and others are in jail.

The round-up of non-violent separatists, who support Indian-administered Kashmir either joining Pakistan or becoming an independent state, was part of a crackdown from India’s government to alter a movement it believed fuels the armed insurrection.

Indian authorities are restricting free expression, peaceful assembly, and other basic rights in Jammu and Kashmir three years after revoking the region’s special autonomous status, Human Rights Watch said.https://t.co/t5Lm0HImdh

— Maktoob (@MaktoobMedia) August 4, 2022

On the third anniversary, no group gave any strike calls. Only the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti tried to take out a protest that was not allowed by the police.

“August 5, is a black day. Our special status, flag and our constitution were snatched from us in an undemocratic way. These rights were given to us by the Indian constitution,” said Mufti.

“We will continue our peaceful struggle using all legal and constitutional means to challenge what was done to Jammu and Kashmir,” tweeted National Conference, vice president, Omar Abdullah.

Another spin-off is that while anti-India protests, stone pelting and shutdowns have diminished, a deep sense of insecurity prevails despite the Kashmir Valley teeming with security forces.

The number of paramilitary personnel deployed in Kashmir has increased manifold since 2019.

“Despite the clampdown, armed militants are targeting civilians. This year, they have killed at least 13 civilians, mostly local Muslims allegedly for their pro-India leanings,” a senior security official told RFI.

Targeted killings increase

Apart from that more than 100 Kashmiri Hindus fled the valley in June as the panic of targeted killings rose among the minority group, migrating from the Muslim-majority area of Kashmir to the Hindu-majority area of Jammu.

There have been approximately 16 targeted killings where civilians including a government clerk, a government teacher, a private wine shop employee, a TV artist and a migrant worker were killed.

While the number of civilian killings in recent years is nowhere near that of the 1990s when militancy was at its peak, the increase in such incidents, particularly after the scrapping of Kashmir’s special status, has been cause for alarm.

Authorities have intensified a crackdown on media and civil society groups, often resorting to counterterrorism laws.

According to journalists, intimidation and harassment of individual scribes who have refused to compromise on their independence have become the order of the day.

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“The government’s bid to control the media in Kashmir was apparent as early as May 2020, when it came out with a controversial media policy. It is not easy operating here,” Majid Bhatt, a journalist told RFI.

A recent report by international watchdog Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 35 journalists in Kashmir have faced “police interrogation, raids, threats, physical assault, restrictions on freedom of movement, or fabricated criminal cases for their reporting” since August 2019.

Political parties have been demanding early elections for the assembly as the union territories are without an elected government for nearly four years.

However, polls in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir this year looks bleak as the Election Commission of India has extended the deadline for revision of electoral rolls.