{"id":180756,"date":"2025-08-07T11:22:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T06:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?p=180756"},"modified":"2025-08-07T11:22:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T06:22:18","slug":"from-autonomy-to-annexation-the-constitutional-colonial-implications-of-august-5-in-kashmir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2025\/08\/07\/from-autonomy-to-annexation-the-constitutional-colonial-implications-of-august-5-in-kashmir.html","title":{"rendered":"From Autonomy to Annexation: The Constitutional & Colonial Implications of August 5 in Kashmir"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"On 5 August 2019, the Government of India led by the BJP unilaterally revoked Articles\u202f370 and 35A. These provisions had long insulated Indian illegally occupied Jammu & Kashmir with internal autonomy, reserved its own constitution, and permitted local legislature to define \u201cpermanent residents,\u201d restricting land ownership and public benefits accordingly. Suddenly, Kashmir was stripped of its special constitutional status and bifurcated into two centrally administered Union Territories\u2014Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh\u2014brought under the direct control of New Delhi. What the Indian government described as an effort toward \u201cnational integration and development\u201d was, in reality, a narrative constructed to justify the illegal revocation. Locally and internationally, it was widely perceived as a strategic constitutional coup aimed at erasing Kashmir\u2019s political identity and paving the way for demographic engineering.<\/p>\n

Within few months, new domicile rules were introduced in May\u202f2020, completely shifting the criteria for residency eligibility that was based on the 15 years of residence or 7 years of study in IIOJK now entitled individuals to full domicile status. The result: between 2022 and April\u202f2025, over 3.51\u202fmillion domicile certificates were issued, and among them 83,742 went to individuals who had previously been banned under the \u201cstate subject\u201d criteria which was nearly 2.4% of all certificates in just two years.<\/p>\n

Critics including Kashmir\u2019s opposition parties also warn that such a scale of inclusion of outsiders, who can now compete for jobs, property and political influence, constitutes engineered demographic change. One PDP legislator warned that the 83,742 outsiders equate to one electoral constituency and could profoundly reshape future voting patterns.<\/p>\n

Soon after domicile rules, new regulations in October\u202f2020 opened agricultural and urban land ownership to non residents and new settlers. Critics liken the strategy to Israel\u2019s settler practices in occupied territories\u2014where legal instruments are used to facilitate migration and land acquisition while marginalizing native populations. In Kashmir, mining and resource contracts have overwhelmingly gone to outsiders: one report estimated up to 70% of mineral tenders awarded to non locals, leaving Kashmiri contractors sidelined.<\/p>\n

The abrogation was convoyed by one of the world\u2019s longest internet shutdowns, communications were slashed off almost entirely for 213 days and alongside mass arrests under the Public Safety Act and UAPA. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and UN experts documented hundreds of arrests, including political leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, and even children, all often detained without charge or legal route.<\/p>\n

Press freedom has been under siege. Journalists face summons, raids, passport seizures and travel bans. Some international correspondents were told to surrender passports or face legal action. Reporting on Kashmir is effectively criminalized unless it praises the government. Human rights activists, including Khurram Parvez, have been jailed under anti terror legislation for documenting disappearances and atrocities.<\/p>\n

Contrary to official account, independent analysis shows real economic decline. According to the Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir (TFHRJK), growth in Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) fell from 13.3% before abrogation to 8.7% afterwards; youth unemployment reached 18.3%, well above the Indian average. Estimates dwelling economic losses at over USD\u202f3.5\u202fbillion, and around 500,000 Kashmiris purportedly lost jobs post 2019. Local trade bodies reported losses in crores of rupees. Competitive disadvantage emerged as tax cuts on imports (e.g. Washington apples, Iranian saffron) destroyed domestic producers. Infrastructure spending fails to offset rising exclusion of Keshmiris from public jobs and opportunities.<\/p>\n

More than 700,000 troops remain deployed, including paramilitaries and central forces. The Indian Supreme Court, in December 2023, supported the abrogation but also ordered restoration of statehood and elections by September\u202f2024. Though polls were held, statehood restoration remains unfulfilled as of now.<\/p>\n

Human rights activists and groups including Amnesty and HRW also warn that India\u2019s actions may fuel conflict rather than peace, undermining rights and breeding alienation. Scholars and UN experts have repeatedly highlighted violations of international norms: from extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances to entrenchment under AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), which bars meaningful redress or prosecution of Indian forces\u2019 personnel.<\/p>\n

Pakistan has responded forcefully: downgrading diplomatic ties, suspending bilateral initiatives, and declaring 5 August as Youm e Istehsal as national day of solidarity with Kashmiris and protest against what it calls India\u2019s exploitive colonisation of the region. Pakistani officials have accused New Delhi of reflecting Israeli tactics and violating the 4th Geneva Convention and UN resolutions by altering Kashmir\u2019s demography illegally.<\/p>\n

For Kashmiris, 5\u202fAugust remains a yearly Black Day. The abrogation of Articles\u202f370 and\u202f35A stripped away constitutional protections, permitted outsider invasion through new domicile and land laws, and turned the region into a legal and military frontier. Economic promises of development have largely failed local communities; instead, unemployment has surged, traditional industries decimated, and Kashmiri autonomy eroded through political and demographic redesign.<\/p>\n

Human rights abuses persist. Enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, censorship, and violent suppression of dissent remain common, while majoritarian political engineering advances quietly through law and bureaucracy.<\/p>\n

As international awareness grows, Pakistan and much of the global Kashmiri diaspora continues to demand:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Full restoration of Article\u202f370 and Article\u202f35A in unaltered form
\n\u2022 A halt to domicile and land transfer rules that alter demographics
\n\u2022 Repeal of draconian security legislation such as UAPA, PSA and AFSPA
\n\u2022 Accountability for human rights violations and access to international observers<\/p>\n

The world must not allow Kashmir to become another removed political identity beneath nationalist sanctions. Demography should not be destiny. The fate of Kashmiri Muslims, political pluralism, and constitutional justice depends on a coherent international response and resolute assertion of self determination.<\/p>\n

\"\"The writer is a student of International Relations at International Islamic University, Islamabad and is currently serving as an intern at Kashmir Institute of International Relations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 5 August 2019, the Government of India led by the BJP unilaterally revoked Articles\u202f370 and 35A. These provisions had long insulated Indian illegally occupied Jammu & Kashmir with internal autonomy, reserved its own constitution, and permitted local legislature to define \u201cpermanent residents,\u201d restricting land ownership and public benefits accordingly. Suddenly, Kashmir was stripped of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":180758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}