Revocation of article 370: Unfolding India’s neocolonialist agenda

 

Abysmal situation in the Indian held territory of Jammu and Kashmir (IHK) has always been a cause of grave concern for the world because of continued deterioration of political and human rights conditions and large-scale violence being used by New Delhi as a means to stifle dissent in the region. However, India’s 5th August 2019 action had further exacerbated the rights situation pushing the troubled region deeper into a quagmire of reckless violence and lawlessness. Since then the region, in particular, the valley of Kashmir had been reeling under new spate of vicious violence. There has been enormous increase in the atrocities and incidents of state-terrorism; Despite India’s lofty claims of so-called normalcy, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and persecution of leading political activists, traders, dissident journalists, rights activists and members of civil society continue unabated in the region where forced disappearances and fake encounters are not just rampant but are done with impunity.

In the past two years (2019 to 2020) hundreds of people have lost their lives during the reckless violence unleashed by the Indian state. In the meantime vandalism and destruction of hundreds of civilian properties have also been reported; According to reports over 1008 houses have been destroyed by the military during cordon and search-operations in the valley. Whereas, 350 people have been killed by Indian forces’ personnel since 5th August 2019 and of those 41 were killed in police custody, whereas, 14636 civilians have been arrested by the Indian authorities in a bid to enforce complete silence in the region.  Essential fundamental freedoms including the peoples’ right to freedom of speech and expression, the right to freedom of assembly, the right to peaceful protest and gathering remain largely suspended in Kashmir, even today.  Hundreds of political leaders have been detained under the draconian such as Public Safety Act, AFSPA, UAPA and other black laws. Whereas, notorious investigation agencies like NIA and ED are being used as a tool to terrorize NGOs, journalists in particular human rights activists so as to prevent them from reporting truth about what is happening on the ground in Kashmir.

Nonetheless, the simmering situation in the held territory evoked a sharp criticism from the international community. Besides the UN’s top body (OHCHR), the rights groups from across the world raised alarm over the fast deteriorating situation in the territory urging Indian government to stop gross human rights violations committed by its forces against Kashmiris. On August 15, 2019, just one week after Indian government revoked article 370, Genocide Watch, issued a Genocide Alert for Kashmir calling upon the United Nations and its members to warn India not to commit genocide in occupied Kashmir. In October 2020, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, voiced concerns over shrinking space for civil society organizations urging the Government of India to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders and NGOs.

The Forum for Human Rights in J&K, an independent body co-chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur and former Kashmir interlocutor Radha Kumar, in its report, released early this year, on the rights situation in the IHK said that “most violations continued even after 18 months” of abrogation of the special status. The second report of the Forum covered the period from August 2020 to January 2021.

Two years later, the situation in the restive region continues to deteriorate; there has been no respite, whatsoever, in the state sponsored-violence. The policy of discrimination, denial and dehumanization, schism, persecution and extermination on the part of Indian government has led to immense increase in human rights violations of the civilian population, including harassment, molestation, detention and the use of excessive and indiscriminate force.

On one hand New Delhi has been using its repressive state apparatus to eliminate Kashmiri youth while on the other it unleashed a well-thought out imperialist plan that seeks to forever change the political nature of the Kashmir dispute through demographic changes, political maneuverings, and administrate machinations.

It is worth to recall here along with the abrogation of article 370 the BJP government that believes in Hindu-Rashtra has introduced a regime of new-laws in Kashmir intended to; (a) pave a way for implementing its settler colonialism agenda in Kashmir, (b) change the demographic complexion of the Muslim Majority state, (c) erase social, political cultural and religious identity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, (d) convert Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir into a Hindu majority area, (e) settle  outsiders (non-Kashmiris) in the occupied territory, (f) eliminate the Islamic culture to erode the foundations of the Kashmiri society (g) facilitate a non-Muslim Indian influx into Kashmir.

For this purpose, the Indian government made sweeping changes in state subject law that has been in force in Jammu and Kashmir since the day it was first introduced by then Maharaja of Kashmir way back in 1927. Under the new law, anyone who has resided in J&K for 15 years or has studied in the state for seven years, and appeared in either the Class 10 or the Class 12 examination, will be eligible for domicile certificates. As per the notification, this would allow them to apply for gazetted and non-gazetted government jobs.  The amendments in the Kashmir’s domicile law was tantamount to open up floodgates for non-Kashmiris (Indians) to settle in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir state, which until August last year had enjoyed special status under the Indian constitution.

REDEFINITION OF DOMICILE LAW: IMPACTS ON GROUND

Historically, article 35-A that accorded special rights and privileges to the permanent citizens of the state was the only constitutional provision that stood as a strong barrier against Indian intrigues to bring material change in the region. While this protection cover had already been done away with, now any Indian national from any state can attain permanent resident certificate. The law, in a way, paved a way for outsiders to get settled in the state permanently besides enabling them to be the claimants of the already existing jobs in Jammu & Kashmir, where unemployment rate is double than in any other Indian states.

Under the pretext of new law those outsiders who get jobs in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir will also claim the right to purchase land in the state.

It may be noted that since the day domicile law was changed the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir had issued domicile certificates to millions of non-Kashmiris. In February this year (2021) the Indian Minister of State for Home, G K Reddy, in a written reply to a query, informed the Indian Parliament that the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have issued a total of 3,380,234 Domicile Certificates till 25 January 2021. The number of certificates issued in a short period of time speaks volumes about the Indian government’s sinister design to change the region’s demography just to achieve its dream of Hindu-Rashtra, purely a Hindu state where there is no place for other communities. 

UNHRC RESPONSE TO INDIAN MACHINATIONS

The UN Human Rights Commission termed changes in the Kashmir’s Domicile Law as alarming. In a rapporteur issued by the UN Human Rights Council to the Indian Government on February 10, 2021, the UNHRC noticed, these laws have clearly simplified the process of handing out domicile to the subjects from outside the region, with little or no scope of verification, while the minority subjects from the region itself face difficulty.

“The new domicile rules are not only alarming because of the diminishing rights of the natives of the region economically, there are high chances of threat to the linguistic, cultural and religious rights of the Kashmiri Muslim, Dogri, Gojri, Pahari, Sikh, Ladakhi and the other minorities”, rapporteur said.

AMENDMENTS TO CIVIL SERVICES ACT

The amendment to J&K civil services act was akin to an assault on the fundamental rights people of Jammu and Kashmir. Changing the very composition of act was tantamount to render Kashmiris jobless as after losing its special status on August 5, 2019, Kashmir had become subject to the 67:33 rule, which means that the number of positions available for Kashmir Administrative Service officers would be reduced to just 33. Given its special constitutional status the state of Jammu and Kashmir had earlier enjoyed 70:30 percent quota under which 70% of the seats were allocated to Kashmiri state-subject holders and only 30% of seats were reserved for IAS officers who were brought to Kashmir from rest of the Indian states.

Besides providing leverage to the government to tighten its grip on Kashmir, the move had changed the entire face of bureaucracy in Jammu and Kashmir. The effects of the move could be seen on the ground as maximum posts in the bureaucracy today are held by outsiders (non-Kashmiri civil service officers). For instance Kashmir is right now ruled by a lieutenant governor who hails from India’s Uttar Pradesh state. All 13 officers in his secretariat are non-Kashmiris and non-Muslims. The chief of police and two police heads of Kashmir and Jammu provinces are non-Muslims.

AMENDMENTS IN LAND LAWS

Similarly, after the revocation of Kashmir’s autonomy, 12 major land laws which have been either repealed or amended that included the Big Landed Estates Abolition Act-1950, the Jammu and Kashmir Land Grants Act-1960, the Jammu and Kashmir Alienation of Land Act-1938, the Jammu and Kashmir Agrarian Reforms Act-1976 and the Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act-1996.

By introducing massive amendments in these laws the Indian government virtually laid down a foundation for settler-colonialism as anyone from outside J&K can buy agricultural land. The most worrying change has been the amendments in Jammu and Kashmir Development Act that gave sweeping powers to Indian Armed forces to declare/notify any piece of land (agriculture or otherwise) in Kashmir as “strategic areas for themselves. By virtue of this law the Indian army can take possession of any land of choice in J&K after declaring it as “strategic”.

Further changes to land laws, which dealt exclusively with the sale and purchase of land, have resulted in further erosion of political and economic rights of the native people. Amendment to the Land Revenue Act on the other hand was tantamount to putting Kashmir on sale. As per the new law anyone from outside J&K can now buy agricultural land with the government’s permission for commercial and other non-agricultural purposes.

“The real object of the repeal of the basic land laws and massive amendments to the other laws are to push in and implement the agenda of effecting demographic change and disempowering the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” said the Gupkar Alliance, an amalgam of “mainstream Kashmiri” political parties.

CHANGES IN THE STATE’S NOMENCLATURE

After the loss of statehood Jammu and Kashmir, which enjoyed special status under article 370 of the Indian constitution for more than 70 years, has undergone a massive political and administrative changes.

The contentious Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, approved by the Indian parliament, became operational on Oct. 31 2019.  As a result the territory of Jammu and Kashmir under the Indian occupation (IHK) was further bifurcated and demoted to two separate union territories i.e. Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. As per the new arrangement the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir was entitled to have its assembly with truncated powers. On the contrary union territory of Ladakh was deprived of this right. Secondly the office of governor was reduced to lieutenant governor; all laws passed by the Indian parliament will be applicable in the region; the Indian Penal Code replaced the local Ranbir Penal Code of Jammu and Kashmir to decide criminal cases; In addition to these drastic changes, over 710 laws were repealed during the course of time in an attempt to further erode the Kashmiris’ political identity.

Before August 5, 2019, the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir had its own constitution and a bicameral assembly, a separate constitution and a flag of its own. The state had a separate citizenship law that promised its permanent residents special rights and privileges such as the right to owning property; getting government jobs; receiving scholarships and other welfare benefits. The law seized female citizens of the state of their property rights in case they marry to a person who is not a permanent citizen of the state. It also prohibited outsiders from permanently settling in Jammu and Kashmir, buying land, holding local government jobs.

SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS ONSLAUGHT

Along with the land and settler-colonialism policies and Kashmiris have witnessed social, cultural and religious onslaught. Dismantling everything that symbolized the Kashmiris’ identity for instance ending Urdu’s 131-year reign as the only official language of Kashmir, including four other languages in the list of official languages and according Hindi as a status of official language, changing names of important buildings, roads and historical sites, and rebuilding of over 50000 temples in the Kashmir valley and above all the attempts to changing the political structure by wiping out the regional parties  speak volumes about the BJP government’s nefarious designs to distort the region’s history and its distinctive identity.

Tailpiece: The steps taken by the Government of India vis-à-vis the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir bear all the hallmarks of a neo-colonialist and imperialistic plan to marginalize Kashmiris, reducing them to minority and seizing their land and resources owned by the state.