A year after occupied Kashmir's special status was revoked, the world watches on in silence
A year after occupied Kashmir's special status was revoked, the world watches on in silence
SRINAGAR (Dunya News) – Indian barbarism and brutality against Kashmiris is nothing new, the valley has been suffering for decades. But, India reached new peaks of oppression when, under the guise of so-called legislation, the Modi government changed the legal status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019 and a new era of oppression began.
The Constitution of India included two basic articles regarding Kashmir, which say that Jammu and Kashmir is a state of India and gave special status to the occupied state as a temporary arrangement.
On May 14, 1954, a Presidential Ordinance named ‘The Constitution Application to Jammu and Kashmir 35A’ was enforced and incorporated into the Indian Constitution.
Under Article 35A, citizens of other Indian states were not allowed to get permanent citizenship in Jammu and Kashmir.
Under this, it was clarified who is a permanent citizen of occupied Kashmir and who can buy land. Past governments of India, be it the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), never dared to fiddle with the disputed status of Kashmir under Articles 35A and 370 of their Constitution.
Although the army and police persecution continued in the occupied territories, the special status of Kashmiris was not abolished. But on August 5 2019, Narendra Modi’s government, led by Home Minister Amit Shah, controversially decided to divide the area, home to some eight million people.
The move has led to widespread shutdowns of mobile networks and internet, educational institutions being closed down for six consecutive months, scarcity of food and hospitals having more military presence than actual medical personnel. The global community, including Pakistan, is aware that a new wave of oppression has engulfed the occupied valley.
The Indian Parliament repealed Articles 370 and 35A after passing a resolution on majority basis effectively carving up the area and leaving it vulnerable to administrative and demographic changes. The President of India signed the Ordinance to repeal Articles 370 and 35A, and it came into force in October last year.
