4 YEARS OF ANNEXATION OF INDIAN OCCUPIED KASHMIR
4 YEARS OF ANNEXATION OF INDIAN OCCUPIED KASHMIR
IMPACTS ON SOCIOECONOMIC, POLITICAL &HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE KASHMIRI PEOPLE
"To hunt with hounds and run with harethe policy only favors expedient political interests over the more complex task of confronting responsibility, resolving conflicts, and holding accountable thosewho breach their obligations and violate international law."
1. Preface
1.1 Kashmir: A tragedy of betrayals & broken promises
1.2 International dimension of Kashmir dispute
1.3 What went wrong
1.4 Turning Kashmir into a complex jigsaw-p
2. Kashmir a dismantled state
2.1 Delusion of development & normalcy .
2.2 Reign of lawlessness
2.3 Forced silence
2.4 Decline in civil liberties
3. Loss of autonomy & subsequent legislation
3.1 Exploitative resource extraction
3.2 Growing unemployment & joblessness
3.3 Downfall in healthcare and education sector
4. The economy facing a downward spiral
4.1 Fruit industry at the brink of collapse
4.2 Tourism at its lowest EBB
5. Racial gerrymandering
5.1 Delimitation Commission Report
5.2 Discrepancies in the report
6. Conclusion
7. Key Findings
KASHMIR: A TRAGEDY OF BETRAYALS & BROKEN PROMISES
Kashmir is a tragic saga of India’s betrayals and broken promises. What goes on in Kashmir today is the outcome of these broken promises and the policies of deceit and deception New Delhi has been practicing since the day it occupied the region in 1947. Right from 1947 till this date, this long trail of betrayals & broken promises continues to haunt Kashmiris.
INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION OF KASHMIR DISPUTE
The Kashmir dispute has a substantive and well-founded international legal and historical context without which it cannot be understood in its true sense. There are over a dozen UNSC resolutions that primarily reject India’s contention over Kashmir. These resolutions inclusively acknowledge Kashmiris’ right to self-determination and call for holding a plebiscite to allow Kashmiris to determine their political future. By these resolutions, the international community, India, and Pakistan have promised the people of Kashmir the provision of a chance to decide their future, through a free, fair, and impartial plebiscite held under the supervision of the UN. Apart from the UN proposed roadmap, we have seen that several alternative solutions have been proposed (from time to time) to settle the dispute but to no avail.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
When war broke out between India and Pakistan in 1948, New Delhi rushed to the United Nations to register its complaint against Pakistan. After debating the issue and listening to both parties, the UN set up a commission (United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan) to help seek a solution to the conflict. The commission (UNCIP) adopted a historic resolution on 5th January 1949 stating that the question of the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan would be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite. The UNCIP resolution was a perfect guiding template for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute, which called for immediate ceasefire and restoration of peace in Kashmir, appointment of a Plebiscite administrator, and holding a plebiscite to allow Kashmiris to decide their future.
The resolution was ratified by both countries (India and Pakistan). As a result, a ceasefire was held but after cementing its occupation, India resorted to dilly-dallying tactics to defer the referendum and ultimately backtracked from its commitments on Kashmir. Consequently, the promised plebiscite for the people of Kashmir to decide their future was never held. India’s refusal to implement the UN resolutions led to a conflicting situation that pushed the whole region into a quagmire of insecurity and uncertainty. 76 years down the line, the dispute hangs like a sword of Damocles over the two countries and continues to haunt the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. Countless efforts aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the dispute have been made since it landed on the UN’s doorstep in 1947. There have been discussions, debates, and plans, but things have only gone from bad to worse.
TURNING KASHMIR INTO COMPLEX JIGSAW-PUZZLE
Unfortunately, the Indian rulers always played a villainous role and hampered every effort aimed at finding a peaceful settlement of the dispute. India has never been a part of the solution. Indians who have mastered the art of using falsehood as a policy have always created hurdles in the way of peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute by weaving cobwebs of confusion around it. At the international level, New Delhi presents Kashmir as a bilateral issue to prevent the internationalization of the dispute, and during bilateral engagements, it shamelessly terms it as its internal problem.This rigid dichotomy on the part of Indian rulers and policymakers had turned this simple issue into a complex jigsaw-puzzle problem.
Especially, in the aftermath of the abrogation of article 370, the attempted annexation and fragmentation of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian government has made it even more complicated. The decision to abrogate the article, which allowed the state a certain amount of autonomy, has been a catastrophic experience for the BJP government as disillusionment, frustration and alienation among the Kashmiri people is increasing with each passing day. Had the UN proposed roadmap been implemented fully by India, it is for sure that there would have been no crisis whatsoever in the region, today. The subcontinent, home to one-fifth of humanity, should have been safe and secure. Like the European Union, the SAARC countries would have ushered into an era of peace, prosperity, and economic stability, and more importantly there would have been no bloodshed in Kashmir.
KASHMIR: A DISMANTLED STATE IN RUINS
kashmir: A DISMANTLED STATE IN RUINS
Four years have passed since India stripped Kashmir of its special status, but the territory presents a picture of a dismantled state without a functional government and rule of law. The region is still being remotely controlled by New Delhi. Governor’s rule, imposed in the state in 2018, has been in place for the past five years. Governor is just a pawn on the political chessboard, however, it is the military establishment that virtually calls shots on the ground. There is completely a sort of military Raaj (rule) in the state where indigenous population have no say, whatsoever, in government policies. Democracy and democratic traditions, which India keeps bragging, off and on, have been trampled down under the jackboots. There has been a complete ban on political and religious gatherings; fundamental human rights including the right to freedom of expression and opinion, the right to protest and peaceful assembly remain severely curtailed. A strange silence, looming large in the people’s minds, tells it all about the suffocating conditions and environment of fear the Kashmiris are forced to live in.
Deepening turmoil has rattled the region’s economy. Businesses have suffered immense losses, while on the other hand, sharp spikes of poverty, hunger, joblessness and growing unemployment lay bare Modi’s mantra of so-called development in the region. Every single step India took in Kashmir, ever since the abrogation of article 370, has pushed hapless Kashmiris to a chasm. There has been no let-up in the apartheid regime’s repugnance for rights of the Kashmiri people. Despite the lofty claims of “normalcy”, a highly fluid situation fraught with uncertainty continues to mar the region’s socio-political and economic development. India has miserably failed in its attempts to resume a political process in the region.
The disintegration of the state under the controversial “Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act” and subsequent developments such as disempowerment, disenfranchisement and systematic marginalization of the indigenous population, have not only dealt a severe psychological blow to Kashmiris but also created a sense of fear and insecurity that weighs more heavily on their hearts and minds. A deep sense of alienation and anger in Kashmir against India is clearly evident but it is only by the power of the gun by which the RSS influenced Hindu supremacist regime is hell bent on to control Kashmir and the Kashmiris.
THE DELUSION OF DEVELOPMENT & NORMALCY
The Modi government has been persistently propagating about the so-called “All-round development” and normalcy in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. But rather than making Kashmir a violence-free region Modi’s hardline approach to control Kashmir and the Kashmiris by the dent of forces has made its political troubles even more intractable without making the region obviously safer, less wretched, or more prosperous.
Peace and property in Kashmir is just an illusion, the fact is that development and well-being of the Kashmiris has never been a priority of the Indian government. New Delhi is still busy planning to break Kashmir into pieces and hoping it can then annex the pieces! The year-wise details of investments during the past five years lays bare the Modi government’s mantra of progress and prosperity in the region. As per the data provided by the government the investments have drastically declined between year 2019 and 2022. Before the region’s forced annexation the amount of investment in the year 2017 and 18 stood at Rs. 840.55 Crores whereas in financial year 2021-22 the investment amount dropped down to 376.76 crore rupees i.e 44%. Likewise, private sector is nonexistent and unemployment has crossed 25% as compared to 7.6% in India.
REIGN OF LAWLESSNESS
A startling reign of lawlessness in the region has reached its climax. Human rights abuses ranging from mass killings, forced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to suppression of freedom of speech and bans on religious gatherings are still an ongoing issue in the region. Targeted killings of youth by the Indian armed forces in fake encounters has become a new norm. According to a news gathering agency 750 people were killed, 2354 tortured, 18,811 civilians arrested, 51 women widowed, 126 Kashmiri children orphaned and 126 women molested in Kashmir between August 2019i and August 2023.
It is quite upsetting that thousands of Kashmiri women have gone missing in Kashmir since 2019ii. Surprisingly, the startling revelation of the mysterious disappearance of Kashmiri women and girls was made by the government in response to a question in the parliament. There are apprehensions that the missing women may have been trafficked by the Indian “security” forces who routinely commit enforced disappearances and have a worst track record of sexual exploitation, but the ruling party-the BJP-has ignored calls by the UN experts, human rights organizations, and civil society to address the culture of impunity.
i https://www.kmsnews.org/kms/
ii https://kashmirobserver.net/2023/07/28/10000-woman-have-gone-missing-in-jk-from-2019-to-2021-centre/#:~:text=The%20Minister%20of%20State%20for,above%2018%20 who%20have%20disappeared.
The horrible story of the disappearance of women in Kashmir speaks volumes about the state of lawlessness and growing anarchy in the region. On the other hand, the incidents of violence and bloodshed as human rights violations continue unabated while the socioeconomic and political rights of the people, including their right to freedom of speech, expression and opinion, the right to protest and peaceful assembly remain largely suspended.Four years down the lane, Kashmir remains cut off from the world, the region has been virtually turned into a hellhole and what’s really happening there is anybody’s guess. Amidst the highly polarized discourse powered by social media, dehumanisation and persecution of Kashmiris have been normalised so much that the authorities at the helm of affairs in Srinagar and New Delhi don’t care about it anymore. Even, the so-called “mainstream media” in the county has failed to present a true picture of Kashmir or at least show Kashmiris as humans.
FORCED SILENCE: THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE
Forced silence, a neglected dimension of the post-August 2019 developments, is the biggest danger Kashmiris have been facing right now. While the indigenous population continues to live under heavy surveillance, phone-cracking tools and techniques used by India’s law enforcers are increasingly raising privacy concerns. Cell phones are being taped by the agencies and every individual’s actions and activities are being monitored. The majority of Kashmiris are smeared and censored as “rabid fanatics” by the Hindu supremacist regime that takes pride and derives pleasure in caging, humiliating and torturing Kashmiris. People are not allowed to express themselves. Journalists, civil society activists and even ordinary netizens are arrested for merely expressing their opinions on social mediaiii.
The mainstream media that has been denied editorial voices is not allowed to report facts on groundiv. A fake narrative is being promoted under the supervision of government vigilantes who continue to monitor the media. Under this censorship regime, ordinary citizens’ Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts are being persistently censored by the government since August 2019 to ensure that there is no voice contrary to its claims. In a further escalation of war on Kashmiri dissent, Indian authorities suspended the passports of up to 200 Kashmiris, including students, lawyers and journalists. Those targeted received notices that their passports had been “impounded” allegedly because they were deemed a “national security threat.”
On the other hand, a huge number of Kashmiri detainees who were arrested before and after August 2019 continue to languish in jails thousands of miles away from their homes. The top tier leadership of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) along with prominent human rights defenders of the region, civil society activists and even journalists were booked under Public Safety Act, UAPAv and other draconian laws. This witch-hunt against the Kashmiris and massive crackdown on voices critical of the Indian state and its military, had prompted sixteenvi human rights organisations of international repute to call on Indian authorities to immediately end reprisals against the civil society activists and human rights defenders in Kashmir.
iii https://thewire.in/media/summoned-raided-censored-crackdown-on-journalists-is-the-new-normal-in-kashmir
iv https://www.outlookindia.com/national/media-in-kashmir-is-slowly-being-choked-finds-press-council-of-india-news-186811
v https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/21/kashmiri-journalist-irfan-mehraj-arrested-under-terrorism-charges#:~:text=Irfan%20Mehraj%2C%20who%20worked%20with,of%20 funding%20'terror'%20activities.
vi https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/6781/2023/en/
SANCTIONS LEADING TO DECLINE IN CIVIL LIBERTIES This censorship regime, meant to bring Kashmiris to their knees and make them acquiesce to the Indian policies, has led to a sharp decline in civil liberties in the region. While civil rights and liberties remain severely curtailed in the region, Kashmiris feel utterly devoid of a political voice and space. It goes without saying that there is a complete ban on holding political activities. Legitimate political voices have been silenced under the guise of “national security”. Not to speak of pro-freedom leaders, even the so-called mainstream leaders, who served Indian interests in the region for decades, are not allowed to resume political activities in the region.
The arbitrary arrest regime, which led to wholesale imprisonment of high profile political leaders in the aftermath of August 2019, has erased Kashmiri voices from civil society. Thousands of Kashmiris, including political activists, rights defenders, civil society activists, academics and intellectuals, who were roughed up before and after 2019, have been left to rot in far-off jails to enable complete silence in Kashmir. But, India’s fascist regime that left no stone unturned in choking every dissenting voice in Kashmir has been remorselessly selling this deadly silence in Kashmir as “normalcyvii”.
LOSS OF AUTONOMY AND SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION The loss of autonomy and subsequent legislation continue to pose a threat to the disputed region’s demographics. In particular, the redefinition of the state’s age-old domicile law and other related laws have lent an additional impetus to BJP’s settler colonialism campaign to completely erase Kashmir’s distinct identity.The new domicile policy, introduced by New Delhi soon after the abrogation of article 370 and 35 A, has led to diminishing job avenues for locals. Amendments in the state’s land laws have severely undermined the native communities’ rights over their land and property. Induction of new laws, which paved the way for the recent land eviction and anti-encroachment drive, has left thousands of people homeless in Kashmir.Under the guise of these newly introduced laws, the Indian occupation authorities have forcibly evicted and dislodged the civilian populations from agricultural and non-agricultural properties that they have occupied for generations.
People, of all hues, were affected by this policy, which bears the imprints of a settler colonialism. From nomads living in the mountains to those settled in cities, towns and villages have seen their properties being seized and demolished by the occupation authorities after the disputed territory “Jammu and Kashmir” was reduced to a union territory in August 2019viii.Dislodging people of their properties, lands and jobs is not only utter disregard to international law, but also an antithesis to the spirit of basic democracy and fundamental human right According to a report, land measuring 178005.213 acres in the Kashmir region — and 25,159.56 acres in Jammu — has been identified by the authorities as state property people have “occupied illegally”.
Thousands of people have been rendered homeless as bulldozers were let loose to demolish structures and homes across the Kashmir valley and Jammu region.Amnesty International, a global advocacy group, while voicing its anguish over the demolition drive urged the Indian government to compensate those affected in Kashmir. “The Indian authorities must immediately halt the demolition drive and ensure that safeguards against forced evictions as outlined in international human rights standards are put in place before any evictions are carried out,” Amnesty said in a statement issued on 7 February 2023.
vii https://www.deccanherald.com/india/there-is-a-silence-of-graveyards-in-kashmir-1041384.html
viii https://article-14.com/post/at-a-time-of-economic-distress-j-k-land-eviction-drive-imperils-livelihoods--640ea6bd0db85
Aakar Patelix, chair of board for Amnesty International India, said, “No one should be made homeless or vulnerable to other human rights violations because of evictions”. Similarly, the extensive changes made to the domicile law after the revocation of article 35-A enabled the Indian citizens (non-state subjects) to buy land and seek government jobs in Kashmir—a right that was exclusively reserved for residents of the erstwhile state since 1927. The new lawsx also allow the lands acquired by the government for industrial or commercial purposes to be disposed of or sold to any Indian.
They also authorise the Indian army to declare any area as “strategic” for operational and training purposes. Sadly, the new land laws have virtually put all of Kashmir up for sale. Over the past few years thousands of acres of state’s prime land has been sold to outsiders at nominal prices. As per reports, 185 people from outside Kashmir have purchasedxi land in the state during 2020, 2021 and 2022. All these illegal moves have adversely impacted the lives of people, besides leading to economic disempowerment and geographical displacement of the indigenous population.
EXPLOITATIVE RESOURCE EXTRACTION
Since 2019, Kashmir has witnessed a wholesale exploitation of its resources at an unprecedented scale. Outsiders (Non-Kashmiri) were given a free hand to loot and plunder the state resources while local investors were left high and dry. For instance, mining, stone quarry and material contracts were awarded to non-locals while natives suffered for want of materials in Kashmir. According to reports, seventy percent (70%) of the mineral extraction contracts in Kashmir were granted to non-Kashmiris during these years. Handing over Kashmir’s mineral contracts to non-locals has led to a surge in the cost of materials, forcing local residents to suspend construction work. The mining contracts to outsiders have also robbed locals of job opportunities.
GROWING UNEMPLOYMENT & JOBLESSNESS
Growing unemployment is one of the burning issues that has been ailing Kashmiri society today. Contrary to the Indian government’s claims of so-called development, the unemployment rate in Kashmir has swelled to 23.1% in 2023. Substantial increase in the unemployment rate in the restive region tears apart Modi’s mantra of so-called economic development in the region.The gravity of educated unemployment in the held region could be gauged by the fact that around 600,000 educated youth including Phd. Scholars, MPhil and postgraduate students applied for 10,000 class IV jobs last year.
The rising unemployment rate amply demonstrates the low economic development and lack of investment opportunities in the region.According to a report 70,000 jobs were lost in Industry sector, 60,000 jobs in transport, and 20,000 jobs were lost in construction and power projects just in first four months after Modi government stripped the region of its special statusxii.Similarly, in service sector 66,000 jobs, in medical and healthcare 2500 jobs and in finance sector 100 jobs were lost from August 5 to December 3. The loss of jobs at such a massive scale have had adverse impact on the Kashmiri peoples’ livelihoods, their education and health.
ix https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/02/india-demolitions-in-kashmir-must-be-immediately-halted-and-those-affected-compensated/ x https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/28/india-enacts-new-laws-in-kashmir-allowing-outsiders-to-buy-land
xi https://preciouskashmir.com/2023/04/06/185-outsiders-bought-land-in-jk-none-in-ladakh-mha/
xii http://risingkashmir.com/kashmir-loses-rs-14296-to-17878-cr-kcci
As per a recent survey people of Kashmir suffered heavy losses as a result a huge number of students have left education institutions for non-payment of fees.At a time when Kashmiris were gasping for a breath the Indian government terminated hundreds of employees from their services under a black law that allows the government to fire its employees without providing an explanation for it. As per reports more than 50 government employees have been terminated from their services since 2019 on vague charges of being a “threat” to the security of the statexiii. Sadly, the terminated employees have no right to stage a protest against their removal. Even if one does could land him/her in jail.
HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION
Public Health care institutions in Kashmir are severely understaffed. The doctor-patient ratio is one of the lowest in India. As per the recent Economic Survey report, the doctor-patient ratio in J&K is 1:1,658 as against the recommended norm of the World Health Organization which is 1:1,000. However, independent sources claim that Kashmir has a doctor-patient ratio of 1:2000. The Kashmir valley has 2,459 oxygen supported beds, only 752 of which could handle high-risk patients. There are only six hospital bedsxiv available for every 10,000 patients.
This lack of infrastructure is particularly hard on the nomadic Gujjar and Bakerwal communities which constitute 20% of the population. Patients from rural regions are directed to urban tertiary care facilities, losing valuable time in the commute, and sometimes even resulting in loss of life. Many hospitals, even at the district level, lack basic facilities such as having a blood bank. Due to the severe shortage of facilities in government hospitals, many families must seek healthcare from private hospitals and pay out-of-pocket (OOP). The private hospitals currently in operation are too expensive for the general population. As a result, many middle-class families get bankrupt while trying to keep their loved ones alive.
ECONOMY IN SHAMBLES
In first four months of restrictions and shutdown in the valley following abrogation of Article 370, the Kashmir economy suffered loss to the tune of Rs 17,878 crorexv. A report compiled by Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) said that the region (Kashmir valley) has lost between Rs 14,296 crore to Rs 17,878 crore and 4.96 lakh jobs in 120 days (From 5th August 2019 to December 2019).The report further revealed that in 10 districts of the Kashmir valley, the net loss to the agriculture and allied services was to the tune of Rs 4591 crorexvi
.Secondly, suppressing the local business community and allowing outsiders (non-state subjects) to take full advantage of the massive investment opportunities have pushed the region’s economy to the edge. According to a report released by a New Delhi-based rights group last year, Kashmir region continues to exhibit a strong economic downward spiral and there are fears that the middle and the lower classes are rapidly losing their purchasing capacity. The perpetual chaos is certainly one of the major causes of the economic melt-down. However, the government’s hostile attitude towards the majority community has also impacted the region’s fragile economy.
xiii https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/5/indias-kashmir-clampdown-continues-four-years-after-article-370-abrogated
xiv https://hphr.org/iqbal-blog-9/
xv https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kashmir-economy-suffered-loss-four-months-after-article-370-abrogation-jk-6172096/#:~:text=The%20Kashmir%20economy%20 suffered%20loss,trade%20body%20said%20on%20Tuesday.
xvi http://risingkashmir.com/kashmir-loses-rs-14296-to-17878-cr-kcci
FRUIT INDUSTRY AT THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE
Kashmir’s economy has been in the doldrums for the past several years. However, the fruit industry that provides a livelihood for around 60-70 percent of the local population has been at the brink of collapse due to apathy and inept authorities. Farmers and fruit growers have been left at the mercy of the fake pesticide and fertiliser mafia as there is no single fertilizer or pesticide manufacturing unit in Kashmir or Jammu. Experts believe the authorities’ inaction to rein in the mafia and the presence of substandard and low quality fertilizers and pesticides in markets, coming from outside, is a threat to the apple industry.The lack of infrastructure and hurdles being deliberately created in the way of hustle-free movement and transportation of fruit-laden trucks to the markets outside the Kashmir valley have inflicted heavy losses to merchants and fruit growers in the valley during the recent years.
TOURISM AT ITS LOWEST EBB
• Tourism, which accounts for 6.98 per cent of the state’s GDP, has been at its lowest ebbs. Despitethe Indian claims that the abrogation of 370 has enormously contributed in the wiping off of terrorism and so called cross border infiltration, the region witnessed a sharp decrease in number
of tourists visiting the valley during the past 4 years.
• As per Jammu and Kashmir administration records, the Kashmir valley attracted a record of million tourists annually from 2011-2014. xvii
• According to the Indian government stats, only 84,000 tourists have visited Kashmir since August 5, 2019. However Indian occupational government is trying to bluff the international community by adding pilgrims visiting Jammu and Laddakh to tourist data. As per IndiaSpend, Kashmir saw a decline of 86%, in tourism sector which is considered as the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy. Another detailed report published by scroll.in while giving an account of how abrogation of Article 370 has broken the back of tourism Industryxviii in Kashmir revealed that while tourism has dropped 86% there have been 144,500 job losses in the tourism and handicrafts sector since August 5,2019.
• A graphical representation of 2018 and 2019 tourist data reveals the actual state.
RACIAL AND PARTISAN GERRYMANDERING
After the abrogation of 370, the Indian government took some drastic measures that besides violating the basic human rights have led to further erosion of the state’s distinctive identity as well as disempowerment and disenfranchisement of its people.The redrawing of assembly seats in Kashmir was one amongst the plethora of measures that exposed the partisan and racial gerrymandering by New Delhi intended to minimize the role of the region’s majority community by making their votes irrelevant in the electoral process
xvii https://scroll.in/article/951354/abrogation-of-article-370-has-broken-the-back-of-kashmirs-tourism-industry
xviii https://scroll.in/article/951354/abrogation-of-article-370-has-broken-the-back-of-kashmirs-tourism-industry
xix https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/16/india-redrawing-kashmir-assembly-seats-to-disempower-muslims
DELIMITATION COMMISSION REPORT ON KASHMIR Pertinently, the Delimitation Commission for Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which was formed by the BJP government in March 2020, after a year-long hiatus, came up with a highly controversial report proposing six additional seats for the minority Jammu region against only one seat for Kashmir, which is bigger in size in terms of population.The controversial report, justifiably, evoked widespread condemnation as independent observers and political stakeholders in J&K termed the commission’s proposal as unfair to Kashmir. The former Chief Minister in a media interview described the delimitation process in the Indian held territory (IHK) of J&K as a ploy to aid the BJP’s election prospects and effect a demographic changexx. “By redrawing the boundaries of the Assembly constituencies, the BJP seeks to increase its electoral footprint in India’s only Muslim majority State, and also make way for demographic changes, so as to reduce the Muslim majority into a minority”, she said. The legal fraternity in the IHK pointed out serious flaws in the delimitation process and termed it as a deliberate attempt to tilt the power balance in favour of the Hindu dominated Jammu region and further exclude the Muslim-majority Kashmir region from political representation.
The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with six going to Jammu and only one to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister of the Indian held territory of J&K said in a tweet. “The draft recommendation of the J&K delimitation commission is unacceptable. The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu and only 1 to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” Mr Abdullah wrote on Twitter.The commission’s recommendations were seemingly unjustified and illogical as the size of population, which happens to be the cardinal parameter in such processes, has been grossly overlooked and ignored while creating new constituencies. Has the delimitation process conducted fairly, the commission might have given 51 seats and 39 to Jammu. However, notwithstanding the fundamental principles, the commission, on the contrary, recommended six additional seats to Jammu and just one for Kashmir region, which is bigger in size in terms of population.
DISCREPANCIES IN THE REPORT
Delimitation Commission’s proposals did not stand on merit on various accounts as there are a number of grave discrepancies in the report.The commission had grossly undermined the rules and regulations while redrawing electoral maps and delimiting the new constituencies.
For example;
1. The commission did not refer to population in delimiting new constituencies, instead, it focused on geographical area and accessibility.
2. Geographical realities, which along with population are the prerequisite for the drawing of electoral constituencies, have been grossly ignored.
3. Secondly, the panel’s proposed draft suggests higher population size in 47 constituencies located in Kashmir as compared to 43 constituencies in Jammu.
1.1 As per the new arrangement, a single assembly seat in the Kashmir region will have an average population of 146K.
1.2 While in the Jammu region a single assembly seat will have an average population of 125K residents.
1.3 Applying two different parameters for the allocation of population in assembly seats in both the regions reflects the commission’s mala-fide intentions to bring Jammu at par with Kashmir in terms of seats in the state legislature.
4. The proposal to merge Poonch and Rajouri districts, which were previously part of Jammu parliament constituency, with Islamabad (Anantnag) parliament constituency in south Kashmir is yet another attempt to tilt the balance in favour of the BJP to help it achieve its political goals.
5. Similarly, three seats have been allotted to the Kishtwar district - two of them carved out as Hindu majority seats. Earlier, the district had two assembly seats-both Muslim-majority.
6. Likewise, the Doda district with over four lakh population, (45 per cent Hindu) had two seats - both Muslim-majority. Now two out of three seats are Hindu majority constituencies.
7. The Commission has announced nine additional seats for scheduled tribes who constitute just 11% of the total population of the state. Of these, three seats have been allocated for the community settled in the Kashmir region (Gurez, Kangan, Kokernag) and six in Jammu (Gulabgarh, Rajouri, Budhal,Surankote, Mendhar, Thannamandi), which again is an attempt to benefit one region by downplaying the majority.
Consequently, the electoral representation of Muslims in Jammu province has been reduced from 13 Muslim majority assembly seats to just 10 seats despite the fact that total assembly seats in Jammu has risen from 37 seats to 43 assembly seats. The commission’s recommendations were clearly politically motivated and aimed at changing the demographic character and composition of the state. The whole exercise spoke volumes as to how the BJP government was using its state apparatus to establish Hindu supremacy in Kashmir. The Indian government’s sole agenda behind this exercise was to minimize the Kashmiri Muslims’ role in the political decision-making process and turn them into a political minority, pave the way for installing a Hindu chief minister in the state assembly and lend legitimacy to actions it has taken on Kashmir since 5th August 2019. The delimitation commission’s observations have greatly augmented the BJP’s plan to further polarize the less privileged and economically downtrodden minorities of the state by allocating six seats for Jammu and three seats for ST&SC from Kashmir region-a perfect recipe to polarize and pitch and pit two tribal communities and regions against each other. Sadly, New Delhi, which has blatantly ignored these pressing issues being confronted by the Kashmiris, appears to be more concerned with projecting an image of normalcy than ensuring rights and accountability in the region.
CONCLUSION
All that the Modi-government has been trying is to deflect world attention away from the real issues and hiding these shocking ground realities through peddling lies and projecting its concocted normalcy narrative on Kashmir, but the fact remains that during the past four years, the region has witnessed new heights of assimilation and the erasure of its socio-political, religious and cultural identity. Unfortunately, the agonies Kashmiris have been gone through these years of trials and tribulations go broadly unnoticed at the international level because of realpolitik, which involves the pursuit of political settlements unencumbered by moral and ethical limitations. However, this approach runs directly counter to the interests of justice and fair play. It is high time that the international community and influential world governments must shun this policy of running with hares and hunting with hounds that favours expedient political ends over the more complex task of confronting responsibility and holding states accountable for breaching law.
KEY FINDINGS
Peace and property in Kashmir is just an illusion, the fact is that development and well-being of the Kashmiris has never been a priority of the Indian government. New Delhi is still busy planning to break Kashmir into pieces and hoping it can then annex the pieces! The year-wise details of investments during the past five years lays bare the Modi government’s mantra of progress and prosperity in the region. As per the data provided by the government the investments have drastically declined between year 2019 and 2022. Before the region’s forced annexation the amount of investment in the year 2017 and 18 stood at Rs. 840.55 Crores whereas in financial year 2021-22 the investment amount dropped down to 376.76 crore rupees i.e 44%. Likewise, private sector is nonexistent and unemployment has crossed 25% as compared to 7.6% in India.
REIGN OF LAWLESSNESS
A startling reign of lawlessness in the region has reached its climax. Human rights abuses ranging from mass killings, forced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to suppression of freedom of speech and bans on religious gatherings are still an ongoing issue in the region. Targeted killings of youth by the Indian armed forces in fake encounters has become a new norm. According to a news gathering agency 750 people were killed, 2354 tortured, 18,811 civilians arrested, 51 women widowed, 126 Kashmiri children orphaned and 126 women molested in Kashmir between August 2019i and August 2023.
It is quite upsetting that thousands of Kashmiri women have gone missing in Kashmir since 2019ii. Surprisingly, the startling revelation of the mysterious disappearance of Kashmiri women and girls was made by the government in response to a question in the parliament. There are apprehensions that the missing women may have been trafficked by the Indian “security” forces who routinely commit enforced disappearances and have a worst track record of sexual exploitation, but the ruling party-the BJP-has ignored calls by the UN experts, human rights organizations, and civil society to address the culture of impunity.
i https://www.kmsnews.org/kms/
ii https://kashmirobserver.net/2023/07/28/10000-woman-have-gone-missing-in-jk-from-2019-to-2021-centre/#:~:text=The%20Minister%20of%20State%20for,above%2018%20 who%20have%20disappeared.
The horrible story of the disappearance of women in Kashmir speaks volumes about the state of lawlessness and growing anarchy in the region. On the other hand, the incidents of violence and bloodshed as human rights violations continue unabated while the socioeconomic and political rights of the people, including their right to freedom of speech, expression and opinion, the right to protest and peaceful assembly remain largely suspended.Four years down the lane, Kashmir remains cut off from the world, the region has been virtually turned into a hellhole and what’s really happening there is anybody’s guess. Amidst the highly polarized discourse powered by social media, dehumanisation and persecution of Kashmiris have been normalised so much that the authorities at the helm of affairs in Srinagar and New Delhi don’t care about it anymore. Even, the so-called “mainstream media” in the county has failed to present a true picture of Kashmir or at least show Kashmiris as humans.
FORCED SILENCE: THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE
Forced silence, a neglected dimension of the post-August 2019 developments, is the biggest danger Kashmiris have been facing right now. While the indigenous population continues to live under heavy surveillance, phone-cracking tools and techniques used by India’s law enforcers are increasingly raising privacy concerns. Cell phones are being taped by the agencies and every individual’s actions and activities are being monitored. The majority of Kashmiris are smeared and censored as “rabid fanatics” by the Hindu supremacist regime that takes pride and derives pleasure in caging, humiliating and torturing Kashmiris. People are not allowed to express themselves. Journalists, civil society activists and even ordinary netizens are arrested for merely expressing their opinions on social mediaiii.
The mainstream media that has been denied editorial voices is not allowed to report facts on groundiv. A fake narrative is being promoted under the supervision of government vigilantes who continue to monitor the media. Under this censorship regime, ordinary citizens’ Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts are being persistently censored by the government since August 2019 to ensure that there is no voice contrary to its claims. In a further escalation of war on Kashmiri dissent, Indian authorities suspended the passports of up to 200 Kashmiris, including students, lawyers and journalists. Those targeted received notices that their passports had been “impounded” allegedly because they were deemed a “national security threat.”
On the other hand, a huge number of Kashmiri detainees who were arrested before and after August 2019 continue to languish in jails thousands of miles away from their homes. The top tier leadership of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) along with prominent human rights defenders of the region, civil society activists and even journalists were booked under Public Safety Act, UAPAv and other draconian laws. This witch-hunt against the Kashmiris and massive crackdown on voices critical of the Indian state and its military, had prompted sixteenvi human rights organisations of international repute to call on Indian authorities to immediately end reprisals against the civil society activists and human rights defenders in Kashmir.
iii https://thewire.in/media/summoned-raided-censored-crackdown-on-journalists-is-the-new-normal-in-kashmir
iv https://www.outlookindia.com/national/media-in-kashmir-is-slowly-being-choked-finds-press-council-of-india-news-186811
v https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/21/kashmiri-journalist-irfan-mehraj-arrested-under-terrorism-charges#:~:text=Irfan%20Mehraj%2C%20who%20worked%20with,of%20 funding%20'terror'%20activities.
vi https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/6781/2023/en/
On the other hand, a huge number of Kashmiri detainees who were arrested before and after August 2019 continue to languish in jails thousands of miles away from their homes. The top tier leadership of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) along with prominent human rights defenders of the region, civil society activists and even journalists were booked under Public Safety Act, UAPAv and other draconian laws. This witch-hunt against the Kashmiris and massive crackdown on voices critical of the Indian state and its military, had prompted sixteenvi human rights organisations of international repute to call on Indian authorities to immediately end reprisals against the civil society activists and human rights defenders in Kashmir.
SANCTIONS LEADING TO DECLINE IN CIVIL LIBERTIES This censorship regime, meant to bring Kashmiris to their knees and make them acquiesce to the Indian policies, has led to a sharp decline in civil liberties in the region. While civil rights and liberties remain severely curtailed in the region, Kashmiris feel utterly devoid of a political voice and space. It goes without saying that there is a complete ban on holding political activities. Legitimate political voices have been silenced under the guise of “national security”. Not to speak of pro-freedom leaders, even the so-called mainstream leaders, who served Indian interests in the region for decades, are not allowed to resume political activities in the region.
The arbitrary arrest regime, which led to wholesale imprisonment of high profile political leaders in the aftermath of August 2019, has erased Kashmiri voices from civil society. Thousands of Kashmiris, including political activists, rights defenders, civil society activists, academics and intellectuals, who were roughed up before and after 2019, have been left to rot in far-off jails to enable complete silence in Kashmir. But, India’s fascist regime that left no stone unturned in choking every dissenting voice in Kashmir has been remorselessly selling this deadly silence in Kashmir as “normalcyvii”.
LOSS OF AUTONOMY AND SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION The loss of autonomy and subsequent legislation continue to pose a threat to the disputed region’s demographics. In particular, the redefinition of the state’s age-old domicile law and other related laws have lent an additional impetus to BJP’s settler colonialism campaign to completely erase Kashmir’s distinct identity.The new domicile policy, introduced by New Delhi soon after the abrogation of article 370 and 35 A, has led to diminishing job avenues for locals. Amendments in the state’s land laws have severely undermined the native communities’ rights over their land and property. Induction of new laws, which paved the way for the recent land eviction and anti-encroachment drive, has left thousands of people homeless in Kashmir.Under the guise of these newly introduced laws, the Indian occupation authorities have forcibly evicted and dislodged the civilian populations from agricultural and non-agricultural properties that they have occupied for generations.
People, of all hues, were affected by this policy, which bears the imprints of a settler colonialism. From nomads living in the mountains to those settled in cities, towns and villages have seen their properties being seized and demolished by the occupation authorities after the disputed territory “Jammu and Kashmir” was reduced to a union territory in August 2019viii.Dislodging people of their properties, lands and jobs is not only utter disregard to international law, but also an antithesis to the spirit of basic democracy and fundamental human right According to a report, land measuring 178005.213 acres in the Kashmir region — and 25,159.56 acres in Jammu — has been identified by the authorities as state property people have “occupied illegally”.
Thousands of people have been rendered homeless as bulldozers were let loose to demolish structures and homes across the Kashmir valley and Jammu region.Amnesty International, a global advocacy group, while voicing its anguish over the demolition drive urged the Indian government to compensate those affected in Kashmir. “The Indian authorities must immediately halt the demolition drive and ensure that safeguards against forced evictions as outlined in international human rights standards are put in place before any evictions are carried out,” Amnesty said in a statement issued on 7 February 2023.
vii https://www.deccanherald.com/india/there-is-a-silence-of-graveyards-in-kashmir-1041384.html
viii https://article-14.com/post/at-a-time-of-economic-distress-j-k-land-eviction-drive-imperils-livelihoods--640ea6bd0db85
Aakar Patelix, chair of board for Amnesty International India, said, “No one should be made homeless or vulnerable to other human rights violations because of evictions”. Similarly, the extensive changes made to the domicile law after the revocation of article 35-A enabled the Indian citizens (non-state subjects) to buy land and seek government jobs in Kashmir—a right that was exclusively reserved for residents of the erstwhile state since 1927. The new lawsx also allow the lands acquired by the government for industrial or commercial purposes to be disposed of or sold to any Indian.
They also authorise the Indian army to declare any area as “strategic” for operational and training purposes. Sadly, the new land laws have virtually put all of Kashmir up for sale. Over the past few years thousands of acres of state’s prime land has been sold to outsiders at nominal prices. As per reports, 185 people from outside Kashmir have purchasedxi land in the state during 2020, 2021 and 2022. All these illegal moves have adversely impacted the lives of people, besides leading to economic disempowerment and geographical displacement of the indigenous population.
EXPLOITATIVE RESOURCE EXTRACTION
Since 2019, Kashmir has witnessed a wholesale exploitation of its resources at an unprecedented scale. Outsiders (Non-Kashmiri) were given a free hand to loot and plunder the state resources while local investors were left high and dry. For instance, mining, stone quarry and material contracts were awarded to non-locals while natives suffered for want of materials in Kashmir. According to reports, seventy percent (70%) of the mineral extraction contracts in Kashmir were granted to non-Kashmiris during these years. Handing over Kashmir’s mineral contracts to non-locals has led to a surge in the cost of materials, forcing local residents to suspend construction work. The mining contracts to outsiders have also robbed locals of job opportunities.
GROWING UNEMPLOYMENT & JOBLESSNESS
Growing unemployment is one of the burning issues that has been ailing Kashmiri society today. Contrary to the Indian government’s claims of so-called development, the unemployment rate in Kashmir has swelled to 23.1% in 2023. Substantial increase in the unemployment rate in the restive region tears apart Modi’s mantra of so-called economic development in the region.The gravity of educated unemployment in the held region could be gauged by the fact that around 600,000 educated youth including Phd. Scholars, MPhil and postgraduate students applied for 10,000 class IV jobs last year.
The rising unemployment rate amply demonstrates the low economic development and lack of investment opportunities in the region.According to a report 70,000 jobs were lost in Industry sector, 60,000 jobs in transport, and 20,000 jobs were lost in construction and power projects just in first four months after Modi government stripped the region of its special statusxii.Similarly, in service sector 66,000 jobs, in medical and healthcare 2500 jobs and in finance sector 100 jobs were lost from August 5 to December 3. The loss of jobs at such a massive scale have had adverse impact on the Kashmiri peoples’ livelihoods, their education and health.
ix https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/02/india-demolitions-in-kashmir-must-be-immediately-halted-and-those-affected-compensated/ x https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/28/india-enacts-new-laws-in-kashmir-allowing-outsiders-to-buy-land
xi https://preciouskashmir.com/2023/04/06/185-outsiders-bought-land-in-jk-none-in-ladakh-mha/
xii http://risingkashmir.com/kashmir-loses-rs-14296-to-17878-cr-kcci
As per a recent survey people of Kashmir suffered heavy losses as a result a huge number of students have left education institutions for non-payment of fees.At a time when Kashmiris were gasping for a breath the Indian government terminated hundreds of employees from their services under a black law that allows the government to fire its employees without providing an explanation for it. As per reports more than 50 government employees have been terminated from their services since 2019 on vague charges of being a “threat” to the security of the statexiii. Sadly, the terminated employees have no right to stage a protest against their removal. Even if one does could land him/her in jail.
HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION
Public Health care institutions in Kashmir are severely understaffed. The doctor-patient ratio is one of the lowest in India. As per the recent Economic Survey report, the doctor-patient ratio in J&K is 1:1,658 as against the recommended norm of the World Health Organization which is 1:1,000. However, independent sources claim that Kashmir has a doctor-patient ratio of 1:2000. The Kashmir valley has 2,459 oxygen supported beds, only 752 of which could handle high-risk patients. There are only six hospital bedsxiv available for every 10,000 patients.
This lack of infrastructure is particularly hard on the nomadic Gujjar and Bakerwal communities which constitute 20% of the population. Patients from rural regions are directed to urban tertiary care facilities, losing valuable time in the commute, and sometimes even resulting in loss of life. Many hospitals, even at the district level, lack basic facilities such as having a blood bank. Due to the severe shortage of facilities in government hospitals, many families must seek healthcare from private hospitals and pay out-of-pocket (OOP). The private hospitals currently in operation are too expensive for the general population. As a result, many middle-class families get bankrupt while trying to keep their loved ones alive.
ECONOMY IN SHAMBLES
In first four months of restrictions and shutdown in the valley following abrogation of Article 370, the Kashmir economy suffered loss to the tune of Rs 17,878 crorexv. A report compiled by Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) said that the region (Kashmir valley) has lost between Rs 14,296 crore to Rs 17,878 crore and 4.96 lakh jobs in 120 days (From 5th August 2019 to December 2019).The report further revealed that in 10 districts of the Kashmir valley, the net loss to the agriculture and allied services was to the tune of Rs 4591 crorexvi
.Secondly, suppressing the local business community and allowing outsiders (non-state subjects) to take full advantage of the massive investment opportunities have pushed the region’s economy to the edge. According to a report released by a New Delhi-based rights group last year, Kashmir region continues to exhibit a strong economic downward spiral and there are fears that the middle and the lower classes are rapidly losing their purchasing capacity. The perpetual chaos is certainly one of the major causes of the economic melt-down. However, the government’s hostile attitude towards the majority community has also impacted the region’s fragile economy.
xiii https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/5/indias-kashmir-clampdown-continues-four-years-after-article-370-abrogated
xiv https://hphr.org/iqbal-blog-9/
xv https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kashmir-economy-suffered-loss-four-months-after-article-370-abrogation-jk-6172096/#:~:text=The%20Kashmir%20economy%20 suffered%20loss,trade%20body%20said%20on%20Tuesday.
xvi http://risingkashmir.com/kashmir-loses-rs-14296-to-17878-cr-kcci
FRUIT INDUSTRY AT THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE
Kashmir’s economy has been in the doldrums for the past several years. However, the fruit industry that provides a livelihood for around 60-70 percent of the local population has been at the brink of collapse due to apathy and inept authorities. Farmers and fruit growers have been left at the mercy of the fake pesticide and fertiliser mafia as there is no single fertilizer or pesticide manufacturing unit in Kashmir or Jammu. Experts believe the authorities’ inaction to rein in the mafia and the presence of substandard and low quality fertilizers and pesticides in markets, coming from outside, is a threat to the apple industry.The lack of infrastructure and hurdles being deliberately created in the way of hustle-free movement and transportation of fruit-laden trucks to the markets outside the Kashmir valley have inflicted heavy losses to merchants and fruit growers in the valley during the recent years.
TOURISM AT ITS LOWEST EBB
• Tourism, which accounts for 6.98 per cent of the state’s GDP, has been at its lowest ebbs. Despitethe Indian claims that the abrogation of 370 has enormously contributed in the wiping off of terrorism and so called cross border infiltration, the region witnessed a sharp decrease in number
of tourists visiting the valley during the past 4 years.
• As per Jammu and Kashmir administration records, the Kashmir valley attracted a record of million tourists annually from 2011-2014. xvii
• According to the Indian government stats, only 84,000 tourists have visited Kashmir since August 5, 2019. However Indian occupational government is trying to bluff the international community by adding pilgrims visiting Jammu and Laddakh to tourist data. As per IndiaSpend, Kashmir saw a decline of 86%, in tourism sector which is considered as the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy. Another detailed report published by scroll.in while giving an account of how abrogation of Article 370 has broken the back of tourism Industryxviii in Kashmir revealed that while tourism has dropped 86% there have been 144,500 job losses in the tourism and handicrafts sector since August 5,2019.
• A graphical representation of 2018 and 2019 tourist data reveals the actual state.
RACIAL AND PARTISAN GERRYMANDERING
After the abrogation of 370, the Indian government took some drastic measures that besides violating the basic human rights have led to further erosion of the state’s distinctive identity as well as disempowerment and disenfranchisement of its people.The redrawing of assembly seats in Kashmir was one amongst the plethora of measures that exposed the partisan and racial gerrymandering by New Delhi intended to minimize the role of the region’s majority community by making their votes irrelevant in the electoral process
xvii https://scroll.in/article/951354/abrogation-of-article-370-has-broken-the-back-of-kashmirs-tourism-industry
xviii https://scroll.in/article/951354/abrogation-of-article-370-has-broken-the-back-of-kashmirs-tourism-industry
xix https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/16/india-redrawing-kashmir-assembly-seats-to-disempower-muslims
DELIMITATION COMMISSION REPORT ON KASHMIR Pertinently, the Delimitation Commission for Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which was formed by the BJP government in March 2020, after a year-long hiatus, came up with a highly controversial report proposing six additional seats for the minority Jammu region against only one seat for Kashmir, which is bigger in size in terms of population.The controversial report, justifiably, evoked widespread condemnation as independent observers and political stakeholders in J&K termed the commission’s proposal as unfair to Kashmir. The former Chief Minister in a media interview described the delimitation process in the Indian held territory (IHK) of J&K as a ploy to aid the BJP’s election prospects and effect a demographic changexx. “By redrawing the boundaries of the Assembly constituencies, the BJP seeks to increase its electoral footprint in India’s only Muslim majority State, and also make way for demographic changes, so as to reduce the Muslim majority into a minority”, she said. The legal fraternity in the IHK pointed out serious flaws in the delimitation process and termed it as a deliberate attempt to tilt the power balance in favour of the Hindu dominated Jammu region and further exclude the Muslim-majority Kashmir region from political representation.
The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with six going to Jammu and only one to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister of the Indian held territory of J&K said in a tweet. “The draft recommendation of the J&K delimitation commission is unacceptable. The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu and only 1 to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” Mr Abdullah wrote on Twitter.The commission’s recommendations were seemingly unjustified and illogical as the size of population, which happens to be the cardinal parameter in such processes, has been grossly overlooked and ignored while creating new constituencies. Has the delimitation process conducted fairly, the commission might have given 51 seats and 39 to Jammu. However, notwithstanding the fundamental principles, the commission, on the contrary, recommended six additional seats to Jammu and just one for Kashmir region, which is bigger in size in terms of population.
DISCREPANCIES IN THE REPORT
Delimitation Commission’s proposals did not stand on merit on various accounts as there are a number of grave discrepancies in the report.The commission had grossly undermined the rules and regulations while redrawing electoral maps and delimiting the new constituencies.
For example;
1. The commission did not refer to population in delimiting new constituencies, instead, it focused on geographical area and accessibility.
2. Geographical realities, which along with population are the prerequisite for the drawing of electoral constituencies, have been grossly ignored.
3. Secondly, the panel’s proposed draft suggests higher population size in 47 constituencies located in Kashmir as compared to 43 constituencies in Jammu.
1.1 As per the new arrangement, a single assembly seat in the Kashmir region will have an average population of 146K.
1.2 While in the Jammu region a single assembly seat will have an average population of 125K residents.
1.3 Applying two different parameters for the allocation of population in assembly seats in both the regions reflects the commission’s mala-fide intentions to bring Jammu at par with Kashmir in terms of seats in the state legislature.
4. The proposal to merge Poonch and Rajouri districts, which were previously part of Jammu parliament constituency, with Islamabad (Anantnag) parliament constituency in south Kashmir is yet another attempt to tilt the balance in favour of the BJP to help it achieve its political goals.
5. Similarly, three seats have been allotted to the Kishtwar district - two of them carved out as Hindu majority seats. Earlier, the district had two assembly seats-both Muslim-majority.
6. Likewise, the Doda district with over four lakh population, (45 per cent Hindu) had two seats - both Muslim-majority. Now two out of three seats are Hindu majority constituencies.
7. The Commission has announced nine additional seats for scheduled tribes who constitute just 11% of the total population of the state. Of these, three seats have been allocated for the community settled in the Kashmir region (Gurez, Kangan, Kokernag) and six in Jammu (Gulabgarh, Rajouri, Budhal,Surankote, Mendhar, Thannamandi), which again is an attempt to benefit one region by downplaying the majority.
Consequently, the electoral representation of Muslims in Jammu province has been reduced from 13 Muslim majority assembly seats to just 10 seats despite the fact that total assembly seats in Jammu has risen from 37 seats to 43 assembly seats. The commission’s recommendations were clearly politically motivated and aimed at changing the demographic character and composition of the state. The whole exercise spoke volumes as to how the BJP government was using its state apparatus to establish Hindu supremacy in Kashmir. The Indian government’s sole agenda behind this exercise was to minimize the Kashmiri Muslims’ role in the political decision-making process and turn them into a political minority, pave the way for installing a Hindu chief minister in the state assembly and lend legitimacy to actions it has taken on Kashmir since 5th August 2019. The delimitation commission’s observations have greatly augmented the BJP’s plan to further polarize the less privileged and economically downtrodden minorities of the state by allocating six seats for Jammu and three seats for ST&SC from Kashmir region-a perfect recipe to polarize and pitch and pit two tribal communities and regions against each other. Sadly, New Delhi, which has blatantly ignored these pressing issues being confronted by the Kashmiris, appears to be more concerned with projecting an image of normalcy than ensuring rights and accountability in the region.
CONCLUSION
All that the Modi-government has been trying is to deflect world attention away from the real issues and hiding these shocking ground realities through peddling lies and projecting its concocted normalcy narrative on Kashmir, but the fact remains that during the past four years, the region has witnessed new heights of assimilation and the erasure of its socio-political, religious and cultural identity. Unfortunately, the agonies Kashmiris have been gone through these years of trials and tribulations go broadly unnoticed at the international level because of realpolitik, which involves the pursuit of political settlements unencumbered by moral and ethical limitations. However, this approach runs directly counter to the interests of justice and fair play. It is high time that the international community and influential world governments must shun this policy of running with hares and hunting with hounds that favours expedient political ends over the more complex task of confronting responsibility and holding states accountable for breaching law.
KEY FINDINGS
The arbitrary arrest regime, which led to wholesale imprisonment of high profile political leaders in the aftermath of August 2019, has erased Kashmiri voices from civil society. Thousands of Kashmiris, including political activists, rights defenders, civil society activists, academics and intellectuals, who were roughed up before and after 2019, have been left to rot in far-off jails to enable complete silence in Kashmir. But, India’s fascist regime that left no stone unturned in choking every dissenting voice in Kashmir has been remorselessly selling this deadly silence in Kashmir as “normalcyvii”.
viii https://article-14.com/post/at-a-time-of-economic-distress-j-k-land-eviction-drive-imperils-livelihoods--640ea6bd0db85
Aakar Patelix, chair of board for Amnesty International India, said, “No one should be made homeless or vulnerable to other human rights violations because of evictions”. Similarly, the extensive changes made to the domicile law after the revocation of article 35-A enabled the Indian citizens (non-state subjects) to buy land and seek government jobs in Kashmir—a right that was exclusively reserved for residents of the erstwhile state since 1927. The new lawsx also allow the lands acquired by the government for industrial or commercial purposes to be disposed of or sold to any Indian.
They also authorise the Indian army to declare any area as “strategic” for operational and training purposes. Sadly, the new land laws have virtually put all of Kashmir up for sale. Over the past few years thousands of acres of state’s prime land has been sold to outsiders at nominal prices. As per reports, 185 people from outside Kashmir have purchasedxi land in the state during 2020, 2021 and 2022. All these illegal moves have adversely impacted the lives of people, besides leading to economic disempowerment and geographical displacement of the indigenous population.
EXPLOITATIVE RESOURCE EXTRACTION
Since 2019, Kashmir has witnessed a wholesale exploitation of its resources at an unprecedented scale. Outsiders (Non-Kashmiri) were given a free hand to loot and plunder the state resources while local investors were left high and dry. For instance, mining, stone quarry and material contracts were awarded to non-locals while natives suffered for want of materials in Kashmir. According to reports, seventy percent (70%) of the mineral extraction contracts in Kashmir were granted to non-Kashmiris during these years. Handing over Kashmir’s mineral contracts to non-locals has led to a surge in the cost of materials, forcing local residents to suspend construction work. The mining contracts to outsiders have also robbed locals of job opportunities.
GROWING UNEMPLOYMENT & JOBLESSNESS
Growing unemployment is one of the burning issues that has been ailing Kashmiri society today. Contrary to the Indian government’s claims of so-called development, the unemployment rate in Kashmir has swelled to 23.1% in 2023. Substantial increase in the unemployment rate in the restive region tears apart Modi’s mantra of so-called economic development in the region.The gravity of educated unemployment in the held region could be gauged by the fact that around 600,000 educated youth including Phd. Scholars, MPhil and postgraduate students applied for 10,000 class IV jobs last year.
The rising unemployment rate amply demonstrates the low economic development and lack of investment opportunities in the region.According to a report 70,000 jobs were lost in Industry sector, 60,000 jobs in transport, and 20,000 jobs were lost in construction and power projects just in first four months after Modi government stripped the region of its special statusxii.Similarly, in service sector 66,000 jobs, in medical and healthcare 2500 jobs and in finance sector 100 jobs were lost from August 5 to December 3. The loss of jobs at such a massive scale have had adverse impact on the Kashmiri peoples’ livelihoods, their education and health.
ix https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/02/india-demolitions-in-kashmir-must-be-immediately-halted-and-those-affected-compensated/ x https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/28/india-enacts-new-laws-in-kashmir-allowing-outsiders-to-buy-land
xi https://preciouskashmir.com/2023/04/06/185-outsiders-bought-land-in-jk-none-in-ladakh-mha/
xii http://risingkashmir.com/kashmir-loses-rs-14296-to-17878-cr-kcci
As per a recent survey people of Kashmir suffered heavy losses as a result a huge number of students have left education institutions for non-payment of fees.At a time when Kashmiris were gasping for a breath the Indian government terminated hundreds of employees from their services under a black law that allows the government to fire its employees without providing an explanation for it. As per reports more than 50 government employees have been terminated from their services since 2019 on vague charges of being a “threat” to the security of the statexiii. Sadly, the terminated employees have no right to stage a protest against their removal. Even if one does could land him/her in jail.
HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION
Public Health care institutions in Kashmir are severely understaffed. The doctor-patient ratio is one of the lowest in India. As per the recent Economic Survey report, the doctor-patient ratio in J&K is 1:1,658 as against the recommended norm of the World Health Organization which is 1:1,000. However, independent sources claim that Kashmir has a doctor-patient ratio of 1:2000. The Kashmir valley has 2,459 oxygen supported beds, only 752 of which could handle high-risk patients. There are only six hospital bedsxiv available for every 10,000 patients.
This lack of infrastructure is particularly hard on the nomadic Gujjar and Bakerwal communities which constitute 20% of the population. Patients from rural regions are directed to urban tertiary care facilities, losing valuable time in the commute, and sometimes even resulting in loss of life. Many hospitals, even at the district level, lack basic facilities such as having a blood bank. Due to the severe shortage of facilities in government hospitals, many families must seek healthcare from private hospitals and pay out-of-pocket (OOP). The private hospitals currently in operation are too expensive for the general population. As a result, many middle-class families get bankrupt while trying to keep their loved ones alive.
ECONOMY IN SHAMBLES
In first four months of restrictions and shutdown in the valley following abrogation of Article 370, the Kashmir economy suffered loss to the tune of Rs 17,878 crorexv. A report compiled by Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) said that the region (Kashmir valley) has lost between Rs 14,296 crore to Rs 17,878 crore and 4.96 lakh jobs in 120 days (From 5th August 2019 to December 2019).The report further revealed that in 10 districts of the Kashmir valley, the net loss to the agriculture and allied services was to the tune of Rs 4591 crorexvi
.Secondly, suppressing the local business community and allowing outsiders (non-state subjects) to take full advantage of the massive investment opportunities have pushed the region’s economy to the edge. According to a report released by a New Delhi-based rights group last year, Kashmir region continues to exhibit a strong economic downward spiral and there are fears that the middle and the lower classes are rapidly losing their purchasing capacity. The perpetual chaos is certainly one of the major causes of the economic melt-down. However, the government’s hostile attitude towards the majority community has also impacted the region’s fragile economy.
xiii https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/5/indias-kashmir-clampdown-continues-four-years-after-article-370-abrogated
xiv https://hphr.org/iqbal-blog-9/
xv https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kashmir-economy-suffered-loss-four-months-after-article-370-abrogation-jk-6172096/#:~:text=The%20Kashmir%20economy%20 suffered%20loss,trade%20body%20said%20on%20Tuesday.
xvi http://risingkashmir.com/kashmir-loses-rs-14296-to-17878-cr-kcci
This lack of infrastructure is particularly hard on the nomadic Gujjar and Bakerwal communities which constitute 20% of the population. Patients from rural regions are directed to urban tertiary care facilities, losing valuable time in the commute, and sometimes even resulting in loss of life. Many hospitals, even at the district level, lack basic facilities such as having a blood bank. Due to the severe shortage of facilities in government hospitals, many families must seek healthcare from private hospitals and pay out-of-pocket (OOP). The private hospitals currently in operation are too expensive for the general population. As a result, many middle-class families get bankrupt while trying to keep their loved ones alive.
.Secondly, suppressing the local business community and allowing outsiders (non-state subjects) to take full advantage of the massive investment opportunities have pushed the region’s economy to the edge. According to a report released by a New Delhi-based rights group last year, Kashmir region continues to exhibit a strong economic downward spiral and there are fears that the middle and the lower classes are rapidly losing their purchasing capacity. The perpetual chaos is certainly one of the major causes of the economic melt-down. However, the government’s hostile attitude towards the majority community has also impacted the region’s fragile economy.
xv https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kashmir-economy-suffered-loss-four-months-after-article-370-abrogation-jk-6172096/#:~:text=The%20Kashmir%20economy%20 suffered%20loss,trade%20body%20said%20on%20Tuesday.
xvi http://risingkashmir.com/kashmir-loses-rs-14296-to-17878-cr-kcci
FRUIT INDUSTRY AT THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE
Kashmir’s economy has been in the doldrums for the past several years. However, the fruit industry that provides a livelihood for around 60-70 percent of the local population has been at the brink of collapse due to apathy and inept authorities. Farmers and fruit growers have been left at the mercy of the fake pesticide and fertiliser mafia as there is no single fertilizer or pesticide manufacturing unit in Kashmir or Jammu. Experts believe the authorities’ inaction to rein in the mafia and the presence of substandard and low quality fertilizers and pesticides in markets, coming from outside, is a threat to the apple industry.The lack of infrastructure and hurdles being deliberately created in the way of hustle-free movement and transportation of fruit-laden trucks to the markets outside the Kashmir valley have inflicted heavy losses to merchants and fruit growers in the valley during the recent years.
TOURISM AT ITS LOWEST EBB
• Tourism, which accounts for 6.98 per cent of the state’s GDP, has been at its lowest ebbs. Despitethe Indian claims that the abrogation of 370 has enormously contributed in the wiping off of terrorism and so called cross border infiltration, the region witnessed a sharp decrease in number of tourists visiting the valley during the past 4 years. • As per Jammu and Kashmir administration records, the Kashmir valley attracted a record of million tourists annually from 2011-2014. xvii • According to the Indian government stats, only 84,000 tourists have visited Kashmir since August 5, 2019. However Indian occupational government is trying to bluff the international community by adding pilgrims visiting Jammu and Laddakh to tourist data. As per IndiaSpend, Kashmir saw a decline of 86%, in tourism sector which is considered as the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy. Another detailed report published by scroll.in while giving an account of how abrogation of Article 370 has broken the back of tourism Industryxviii in Kashmir revealed that while tourism has dropped 86% there have been 144,500 job losses in the tourism and handicrafts sector since August 5,2019. • A graphical representation of 2018 and 2019 tourist data reveals the actual state.
RACIAL AND PARTISAN GERRYMANDERING
After the abrogation of 370, the Indian government took some drastic measures that besides violating the basic human rights have led to further erosion of the state’s distinctive identity as well as disempowerment and disenfranchisement of its people.The redrawing of assembly seats in Kashmir was one amongst the plethora of measures that exposed the partisan and racial gerrymandering by New Delhi intended to minimize the role of the region’s majority community by making their votes irrelevant in the electoral process
xvii https://scroll.in/article/951354/abrogation-of-article-370-has-broken-the-back-of-kashmirs-tourism-industry
xviii https://scroll.in/article/951354/abrogation-of-article-370-has-broken-the-back-of-kashmirs-tourism-industry
xix https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/16/india-redrawing-kashmir-assembly-seats-to-disempower-muslims
DELIMITATION COMMISSION REPORT ON KASHMIR Pertinently, the Delimitation Commission for Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which was formed by the BJP government in March 2020, after a year-long hiatus, came up with a highly controversial report proposing six additional seats for the minority Jammu region against only one seat for Kashmir, which is bigger in size in terms of population.The controversial report, justifiably, evoked widespread condemnation as independent observers and political stakeholders in J&K termed the commission’s proposal as unfair to Kashmir. The former Chief Minister in a media interview described the delimitation process in the Indian held territory (IHK) of J&K as a ploy to aid the BJP’s election prospects and effect a demographic changexx. “By redrawing the boundaries of the Assembly constituencies, the BJP seeks to increase its electoral footprint in India’s only Muslim majority State, and also make way for demographic changes, so as to reduce the Muslim majority into a minority”, she said. The legal fraternity in the IHK pointed out serious flaws in the delimitation process and termed it as a deliberate attempt to tilt the power balance in favour of the Hindu dominated Jammu region and further exclude the Muslim-majority Kashmir region from political representation.
The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with six going to Jammu and only one to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister of the Indian held territory of J&K said in a tweet. “The draft recommendation of the J&K delimitation commission is unacceptable. The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu and only 1 to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” Mr Abdullah wrote on Twitter.The commission’s recommendations were seemingly unjustified and illogical as the size of population, which happens to be the cardinal parameter in such processes, has been grossly overlooked and ignored while creating new constituencies. Has the delimitation process conducted fairly, the commission might have given 51 seats and 39 to Jammu. However, notwithstanding the fundamental principles, the commission, on the contrary, recommended six additional seats to Jammu and just one for Kashmir region, which is bigger in size in terms of population.
DISCREPANCIES IN THE REPORT
The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with six going to Jammu and only one to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister of the Indian held territory of J&K said in a tweet. “The draft recommendation of the J&K delimitation commission is unacceptable. The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu and only 1 to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” Mr Abdullah wrote on Twitter.The commission’s recommendations were seemingly unjustified and illogical as the size of population, which happens to be the cardinal parameter in such processes, has been grossly overlooked and ignored while creating new constituencies. Has the delimitation process conducted fairly, the commission might have given 51 seats and 39 to Jammu. However, notwithstanding the fundamental principles, the commission, on the contrary, recommended six additional seats to Jammu and just one for Kashmir region, which is bigger in size in terms of population.
Delimitation Commission’s proposals did not stand on merit on various accounts as there are a number of grave discrepancies in the report.The commission had grossly undermined the rules and regulations while redrawing electoral maps and delimiting the new constituencies.
For example;
1. The commission did not refer to population in delimiting new constituencies, instead, it focused on geographical area and accessibility.
2. Geographical realities, which along with population are the prerequisite for the drawing of electoral constituencies, have been grossly ignored.
3. Secondly, the panel’s proposed draft suggests higher population size in 47 constituencies located in Kashmir as compared to 43 constituencies in Jammu.
1.1 As per the new arrangement, a single assembly seat in the Kashmir region will have an average population of 146K.
1.2 While in the Jammu region a single assembly seat will have an average population of 125K residents.
1.3 Applying two different parameters for the allocation of population in assembly seats in both the regions reflects the commission’s mala-fide intentions to bring Jammu at par with Kashmir in terms of seats in the state legislature.
4. The proposal to merge Poonch and Rajouri districts, which were previously part of Jammu parliament constituency, with Islamabad (Anantnag) parliament constituency in south Kashmir is yet another attempt to tilt the balance in favour of the BJP to help it achieve its political goals.
5. Similarly, three seats have been allotted to the Kishtwar district - two of them carved out as Hindu majority seats. Earlier, the district had two assembly seats-both Muslim-majority.
6. Likewise, the Doda district with over four lakh population, (45 per cent Hindu) had two seats - both Muslim-majority. Now two out of three seats are Hindu majority constituencies.
7. The Commission has announced nine additional seats for scheduled tribes who constitute just 11% of the total population of the state. Of these, three seats have been allocated for the community settled in the Kashmir region (Gurez, Kangan, Kokernag) and six in Jammu (Gulabgarh, Rajouri, Budhal,Surankote, Mendhar, Thannamandi), which again is an attempt to benefit one region by downplaying the majority.
Consequently, the electoral representation of Muslims in Jammu province has been reduced from 13 Muslim majority assembly seats to just 10 seats despite the fact that total assembly seats in Jammu has risen from 37 seats to 43 assembly seats. The commission’s recommendations were clearly politically motivated and aimed at changing the demographic character and composition of the state. The whole exercise spoke volumes as to how the BJP government was using its state apparatus to establish Hindu supremacy in Kashmir. The Indian government’s sole agenda behind this exercise was to minimize the Kashmiri Muslims’ role in the political decision-making process and turn them into a political minority, pave the way for installing a Hindu chief minister in the state assembly and lend legitimacy to actions it has taken on Kashmir since 5th August 2019. The delimitation commission’s observations have greatly augmented the BJP’s plan to further polarize the less privileged and economically downtrodden minorities of the state by allocating six seats for Jammu and three seats for ST&SC from Kashmir region-a perfect recipe to polarize and pitch and pit two tribal communities and regions against each other. Sadly, New Delhi, which has blatantly ignored these pressing issues being confronted by the Kashmiris, appears to be more concerned with projecting an image of normalcy than ensuring rights and accountability in the region.
CONCLUSION
All that the Modi-government has been trying is to deflect world attention away from the real issues and hiding these shocking ground realities through peddling lies and projecting its concocted normalcy narrative on Kashmir, but the fact remains that during the past four years, the region has witnessed new heights of assimilation and the erasure of its socio-political, religious and cultural identity. Unfortunately, the agonies Kashmiris have been gone through these years of trials and tribulations go broadly unnoticed at the international level because of realpolitik, which involves the pursuit of political settlements unencumbered by moral and ethical limitations. However, this approach runs directly counter to the interests of justice and fair play. It is high time that the international community and influential world governments must shun this policy of running with hares and hunting with hounds that favours expedient political ends over the more complex task of confronting responsibility and holding states accountable for breaching law.
KEY FINDINGS
1. Loss of autonomy and subsequent legislation have led to further marginalization and disenfranchisement of the indigenous population in the region. 2. The forced annexation has lent an impetus to the BJP’s dream project of erasing the region’s distinct identity as a Muslim majority state and rewriting its history. 3. Reign of lawlessness in the IoJ&K has reached to climax. 4. Redefinition of the state’s age-old domicile law and other related laws have lent an additional impetus to BJP’s settler colonialism campaign to completely erase Kashmir’s distinct identity. 5. Since 2019, Kashmir has witnessed a wholesale exploitation of its resources at an unprecedented scale 6. Contrary to the Indian government’s claims of so-called development, the unemployment rate in Kashmir has swelled to 23.1% in 2023. 7. Substantial increase in the unemployment rate in the restive region tears apart Modi’s mantra of so-called economic development in the region. 8. Over 218600 Kashmiri people lost jobs in just four months, soon after the region was subjected to a crippling siege followed by abrogation of article 370. 18. The authorities at the helm of affairs continue to use black laws such as the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other laws as tools to persecute Kashmiris and prolong detention periods of the detainees. | 9. Scores of government employees have been terminated from their services on vague charges of being a “threat” to the security of the state. 10. Kashmir’s economy suffered a loss to the tune of 1789 billion rupees. 11. Net losses to agriculture and allied services were estimated to the tune of 46 billion rupees. 12. Fruit industry that provides a livelihood for around 60-70 percent of the local population, has been at the brink of collapse. 13. Tourism, which accounts for 6.98 per cent of the state’s GDP, has been at its lowest ebbs. 14. Redrawing of political landscape under the guise of delimitation has led to further exclusion of the region’s Muslim majority from political representation and their role in political decision making process in the legislative assembly. 15. Innocent civilians continue to brave the brunt of state terrorism in the Indian held territory of J&K. 16. Crackdown on free expression and ruthless suppression of dissent and reprisals against human rights defenders and dissenters in the region continue unabated. 17. Thousands of Kashmiri prisoners including journalists, human rights defenders, political activists and dissenters continue to rot in jails, and detention centers within and outside |
Author :Nisar Ahmad Thakur
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