Kashmir: a year of lockdown

August 5 marks one year since the Narendra Modi government in India decided to stop trying to keep up appearances by respecting its international obligations and went ahead with the illegal annexation of Kashmir. In the past year, New Delhi revoked Article 370 — the Indian constitutional guarantee of the region’s autonomy — and life in the Indian-occupied parts of the former princely state has grown markedly more challenging. Kashmiris continue to be brutalised by Indian security forces, with thousands of innocent people including journalists arrested on trumped-up charges. All the while, a crippling curfew and unending internet blackout ravaged the region’s economy. Even after Covid-19 started impacting the region and experts urged India to loosen internet restrictions to improve access to telemedicine, the Modi government refused to provide any relief.

In fact, as the world has seen conflict reduce as enemies united to fight the coronavirus, India has upped the brutalities it inflicts on people it claims are its own citizens. Modi knows that the global news cycle is too occupied with Covid-19 to care about Kashmir, and world leaders are too busy saving their own citizens’ lives to concern themselves when the Butcher of Gujarat returns to his murderous roots. Modi had claimed that removing Article 370 would benefit Kashmir and India. Among the allowances granted to Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) under Article 370 were its own ‘mini-constitution’ and limiting property ownership in the state to Kashmiris. Both of these allowances also kept India partially compliant with the United Nations resolutions regarding Kashmir.

One year on, Kashmiris have seen violence on the rise and their livelihoods destroyed. Thus far, the only notable beneficiaries have been Indian government employees, including bureaucrats and soldiers, who have begun buying up property in the state under the relaxed property acquisition laws. Other outsiders have been claiming residency to take advantage of higher education and job quotas. These all tie into Modi’s ultimate aim. To change the demographics of the region and make the entire point of the Kashmir conflict moot. Kashmir was, is, and if not for the revocation of Article 370, would have remained Muslim-majority — the only Muslim-majority state under Indian control. If India were to adhere to its international obligations, it would have to eventually allow a referendum in Kashmir. Even before August 5, 2019, it was clear that among the three options that should be on the table for Kashmiris — independence, join Pakistan, or join India — only independence and joining Pakistan have significant local support.

Meanwhile, estimates suggest that around 400 political and civil society leaders are still in prison or under house arrests despite never seeing the inside of a courtroom. Some of them were previously allied with Modi’s government, but the actions of August 5 were a bridge too far for them. Modi is so hell-bent on achieving his demographic reworking of Kashmir that he doesn’t even care about the future of actual Kashmiris of all faiths. The education system in the state has essentially been frozen since last year. For seven months after the IIOJK lockdown began last August, almost all schools were closed, affecting up to two million students. It was only in March that those schools started reopening. A few months later, Covid-19 closed them down again. But unlike the rest of India, without internet access, safely restarting with online classes is impossible.

Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate in the region was reportedly over 70% before the lockdowns began. Since then, with no job creation, businesses shuttering down, and lack of ability to work remotely, we would not be surprised if that number has now gone past 90%. When a government cannot help create local jobs, it should be no surprise that militancy becomes an attractive job prospect.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2020.

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