In a move feared to change demographics of the disputed Kashmir region, India has scrapped a special status for the Himalayan territory it controls, after clamping a curfew on the territory where Muslims have been in the majority historically.
Kashmir is a UN-recognized dispute and its final status has to be settled through a referendum involving the people’s exercise of their right to self-determination.
Until the issuance of the presidential decree on Monday, the Indian Constitution had given Kashmir a special autonomous status, where Indians could not buy property they way did on Indian territories. Now the Kashmiri leaders fear the change in that status will allow an influx of Indians to have settlements in the valley, upstaging the historical demographics.
The move has rattled Pakistan, where Kashmir is considered its jugular vein and a cornerstone of foreign policy as it has for more than 70 years maintained that the final status of the key territorial region has to be determined through a UN-observed plebiscite.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision has already ratcheted up South Asian tensions as it has been accompanied by deployment of around 40,000 additional Indian troops in the valley. Pakistan and India have fought several conflicts and wars over the region.
In New Delhi, Home Minister of the nationalist BJP government Amit Shah told Indian Parliament on Monday that the president had signed a decree abolishing Article 370 of the constitution that gave special autonomy to the Muslim-majority Himalayan region.
Article 370 of the constitution forbid Indians outside the state from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs and securing education scholarships.
The decree said the measure came into force “at once”.
Pakistan has expressed anguish over the Indian move. A joint session of country’s parliament has been convened on Tuesday to discuss the situation in the disputed valley. Mashaal Malik , the wife of Kashmiri leader, Yaseen Malik has termed the decision as the worst act on the part of India.
Pakistan and India control parts of Kashmir.
According to Indian Home Minister, the government also decided to split the state into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature, and Ladakh, which will be ruled directly by the central government without a legislature of its own.
|”It will have catastrophic consequences for the subcontinent. GOIs intentions are clear. They want the territory of J&K by terrorizing it’s people. India has failed Kashmir in keeping its promises,” Mehbooba Mufti, the former Chief Minister of Indian controlled Kashmir, said.
Syed Ali Gilani, a seasoned Kashmiri leader, has said India is planning to carry out a genocide in Kashmir and called upon the Muslim world to save the people from such a catastrophe. Kashmiris regularly hold protests against Indian rule and many have time and again expressed their desire to join Pakistan.
