IIOJK's special status

IIOJK assembly demands restoration of Article 370, challenging Modi’s claims, but faces New Delhi's indifference.

The legislative assembly of the Indian Illegal Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) has made the restoration of the region's special status one of its first orders of business. The assembly, led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has demanded that New Delhi restore Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which was revoked in August 2019 in violation of legislative rules.

The resolution passed by the assembly effectively rubbishes claims by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP that the people of Kashmir wanted Article 370 gone or that revocation would bring good tidings to the region. Pakistan's official position on the legitimacy of the assembly aside, the legislators inside were all elected under Indian law and are supposed to be the people's representatives. If they say the revocation of Article 370 was wrong, it means the people of Kashmir say it was wrong, and if it comes down to Kashmiris or a cabal of Hindutva politicians from Gujarat making decisions for Kashmir, there is no question that local leaders are the only ones who should have a say. Yet, local BJP parliamentarians did exactly that, tacitly admitting that they are no more than jesters in the assembly as they shouted slogans mocking the resolution for being ineffectual as New Delhi had no need to entertain or consider it.

But we must note that in a democracy, even though a central government is free to legislate based on its mandate, it cannot ignore the mandate of federating units. That would make it authoritarian and undemocratic. Unfortunately, the BJP under Modi has been defined by authoritarian and undemocratic populism, which means that ignoring the IIOJK assembly is exactly how it would be expected to act. While the resolution has smartly focused on highlighting culture, language and other unique factors that merit special status, rather than the region's disputed status, the Modi government is unlikely to offer a respectful response. Lest we forget that the BJP government in New Delhi has spent the better part of a decade trying to criminalise reporting on its crimes.