Kashmir Under Control
Written on August 29th, 2019 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}With the US President Donald Trump declaring at a press conference after a Bi-Lateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi that the PM has got Kashmir under control, and agreeing that any discussion on Kashmir is meant to be purely between India and Pakistan, India’s decision to reorganize Kashmir and repeal Article 370 now has the tacit approval of Uncle Sam.
It is a well-known fact that Kashmir has been a bone of contention between the two countries since Independence. While law-makers, intellectuals, and policy analysts have been trying to look for a long-lasting and peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem for years, this historic move by the Modi-Shah pair is yet to get a suitable adjective as the region of Kashmir was completely cut-off from the rest of the world and conflicting reports have been coming out through journalists reporting from ground zero. With the Indian Army also facing allegations of nefarious practices, it was quick to reject these claims as “baseless” and went on to say that fake news is being spread by “inimical elements and organisations” to incite “unsuspecting population”.
The Instrument of Accession and Article 370
When the erstwhile ruler of Jammu and Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession effectively making Jammu and Kashmir Indian territory, he did so with a clause in it that said
“Nothing in this Instrument shall be deemed to commit me in any way to acceptance of any future constitution of India or to fetter my discretion to enter into arrangements with the Government of India under any such future constitution.”
The Article 370 was included in the Constitution of India to honour this clause, and its abrogation in J&K has raised questions over the legality of this move, given that the Supreme Court said in as late as April 2018 that the Article isn’t temporary.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019
This bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on the 5th of August 2019 and was passed by the lower house the very next day. While a huge majority in the Indian side feel that the unconditional application of all provisions of the Indian Constitution to J&K was the way to move forward, questions have been raised by many on the haste with which the bill was pushed through both houses of Parliament. The bill was introduced on the 5th itself in the Upper House, and the Vice-President who chairs the Rajya Sabha gave only four hours for the members to go through the bill, understand it, and propose amendments. Needless to say, it was passed without a respectable discussion leaving much to be desired from the parliamentary practices of the government.
There have been arguments made to the tune of “who cares how it’s done as long as it is done”. When I tried to analyse where these kind of statements devoid of all rationale and logic were coming from, I found that the dissatisfaction towards the job of previous governments was disrupted by the slew of ‘tough’ measures taken under Modi’s term which gave a sense of progress and/or a non-compromising leader at the helm. This was immediately lapped up by the people who were desiring strong leadership.
In supporting this stance, what one tends to forget however, is the fact that although India did manage to abrogate Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, it did so by keeping the people of J&K in the dark, which when spelled out in no uncertain terms means India, the world’s largest democracy, took a decision that would alter the lives of the people living in a certain region in its territory without their knowledge. At this point I would like to reiterate my allegiance to the Republic of India, and that I do believe Jammu and Kashmir is in fact India’s territory. However, I request the reader to ponder over whether the entire Kashmir narrative has even minute signs of the difficulties faced by the average Kashmiri, who is completely cut-off from civilization. That we are rejoicing the complete and unconditional integration of Kashmir in India, ignoring the cost of this move would imply that territory matters, the taxpayers in Kashmir don’t.
“Kashmir is Normal”
Although Indians hope for the distressed region of Kashmir to return to normalcy, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the region, at this moment, isn’t normal. Three weeks after the passing of the Bill through Rajya Sabha, mobile phone services remain shut, citizens of Kashmir still need to travel miles to access a telephone at centres set up specifically for this purpose, and internet services continue to be withheld, all this while Kashmir is supposedly normal. The problems faced by people over there is obviously heart-wrenching, and while something should be done to assuage their suffering, repeatedly yelling on national television that Kashmir is normal and that anyone who says otherwise has an anti-India agenda would NOTHING to help them, since there is a high probability that cable services are remain inaccessible in the region.
Trade with Pakistan
The aftermath of the Pulwama terrorist attack saw India withdrawing the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status given to Pakistan. This was swiftly followed by a 200% import duty on goods from Pakistan. After the fateful events of 5th August 2019, however, it was Pakistan who cut all trade with India to express its disapproval of the move. Severing trade ties with India may appear to be a decision which is bound to have drastic consequences for both the nations, but goods traded between the two nations amount to about $2.4 Billion, which would be 0.31% of India’s total trade volume (and ~3% of Pakistan’s total trade volume).
Imran, Trump, and Modi
Following India’s decision to integrate Jammu and Kashmir entirely, Imran Khan went on a twitter tirade against Prime Minister Modi, attacking the RSS, and comparing it to the ethnic cleansing carried out by Nazis. Tweets like these evidently reflect the ineptitude of a leader, and Modi, who chose not to engage with maniacal statements like these, does deserve some credit. This aside, comparing Imran dwelling on India in his Independence Day speech to Modi’s mention of Pakistan once in his speech does show an India ascending from petty arguments and taking the high road to decency.
The drama going on in the sub-continent reached its crescendo when Trump managed to lie his way into the conflict by making an absurd claim that Modi requested him to mediate the Kashmir conflict. The Indian side was quick to refute his claim, reiterating the ‘bi-lateral issue’ stance India has always taken. This was followed by the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganization of Kashmir. The disagreement was put to rest on the 26th of August when Modi said in a press conference with Trump that Kashmir was a bi-lateral issue, evoking an agreement from POTUS.
Finally, with all that has happened, one can only hope for Kashmir to be a normal state, and pray for those Kashmiris who still live in uncertainty, not knowing what tomorrow holds for them.
Image Source: By Michael Petersen - Transfered from en.wikipedia, first uploaded here, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
