What would George Orwell have made of Kashmir’s situation in 2020? His prophetic work on extensive government over-reach, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of all persons and behaviours has resonance to life in Kashmir today.
Here, the Indian state exists in a kind of sadomasochistic relationship that pins down an entire population to perpetuate its power. Since August last year, the government has embarked on a mission to perpetuate drastic changes in the predominantly Muslim majority region. The policies that the Indian government is implementing since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomous status last August, will bring tectonic shifts in the Kashmiri society.
Kashmiris are rightly incredulous that the Bhartiya Janta Party-led government is committed to ’empowering’ Kashmiris because they are abreast of the nefarious designs of the Hindu nationalist party. On the first anniversary of the abrogation, here is a look back at the various policy-changes it has brought about in Kashmir.
Disempowering indigenous population, settling outsiders
The demotion of J-K from a state with a so-called ‘special status’ to now a union territory directly controlled by the BJP-led government in New Delhi, through its appointed Lieutenant Governor, disintegrates J-K legislature’s autonomy awarded-to it through the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization order 2019 disempowers the state legislature of J-K from defining “permanent residents” and their rights, as was guaranteed under Article 35A.
The reorganization order is another step by the Government of India to settle non-indigenous people in the Valley by changing the domicile laws.
Under new domicile law, imposed amid the pandemic, non-natives who have resided for a period of 15 years in Kashmir are now eligible for domiciliary rights.
India is systematically paving the way for a forced demographic change in Kashmir thus institutionalising a system of domination over indigenous population.
17.4 lakh people can certainly acquire domicile rights, which constitute roughly 14% of J&K’s population of 1.23 crore in 2011, when the last census was carried in the region. Today, the numbers could be, perhaps, even higher.
Re-educating the population
According to newly introduced Education Policy 2020, -the government intends to give “due preference” to what it calls “reputed players” in the education industry who are willing to set up private universities in J-K.
The government says that it will facilitate the allotment of land in J-K and coordinate with the concerned departments for the required approval and clearances to facilitate the process of setting up of new private educational institutions.
Private players from outside Kashmir will be incentivized to set up educational institutions, even when local initiatives— for example the Transworld Muslim University — have long been scuttled.
The new education policy aims to whitewash local history and rewrite the textbooks to represent an obfuscated narrative suited to the present dispensation’s ideological moorings.
The Narendra Modi government in New Delhi has been accused of “saffronising” education – particularly by editing history textbooks and more recently omitting passages on democracy, secularism and the pro-freedom movement in Kashmir.
Gagging the press to hide the truth
The policy of harassment and intimidation of journalists for highlighting people’s issues has frequently been reported in Kashmir but with the introduction of New Media Policy the government seems to have given this policy of intimidation an official sanctum.
The J-K administration approved the new media policy stating that it was meant for “effective communication and public outreach”.
The policy, however, also outlines the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), the nodal agency to disseminate government handouts, to “examine” the content of print, electronic and various other forms of media for “fake news, plagiarism and unethical or anti-national activities”, and take legal action against individual journalists or news organisations.
The new media policy has rendered J-K newspapers into government pamphlets. The policy has been described as an attempt “to kill journalism”, and a “remnant of the colonial era”.
It is indeed an attempt to control the narrative and throttle the freedom of the press, and it plain state censorship where government will decide what to publish and what not to.
In the end, marching backwards
The Government of India’s promise for the abrogation of region’s semi-autonomous status, was that the complete integration of the erstwhile state with the Indian Union will usher in a new era of peace and development in the ‘economically backward’ region.
Almost a year has passed since the unilateral move to redraw the political map of the restive Valley, peace is not only fragile, but elusive to say the least.
A recent report by Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a human rights group, documents that Kashmir saw 229 killings in the first half of 2020, which includes 143 militants and 32 civilian deaths.
What is happening in Kashmir during thelockdown? Kashmir is witnessing the longest internet blackout in any “democracy”.
August 5, 2020, also marks a complete year without high-speed internet in Kashmir. The human rights violations here are alarming now but the current dispensation is furthering its ideological agenda in the pretext of enforcing a lockdown to “contain the pandemic”.
The revocation of the ‘special status’ has only deepened anxieties in Kashmir. Locals fear increased level of violence if there is an influx of outsiders into the region of Kashmir. Even though the conflict in Kashmir is rooted in territory and ethnic identity, it has a strong psychological dimension as well.
As tensions continue to rise in Kashmir after August 5, fear has once again gripped the valley of Kashmir. The mental health burden of this militarisation is reflected in the general psychology of the already anxious population.
So what did the Government of India achieve with the revocation of the Kashmir’s special status?
A complete abrogation of democracy and an unconscionable suppression of civil and democratic rights.
There are killings and the dehumanization of the indigenous people, and plundering of mineral and other resources in the guise of development.
Democracy has been denied to Kashmiris for the last seven decades, but today, Kashmiris are facing an existential threat.
Sahir Bilal is a research scholar at Central University of Kashmir.
Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position and policy of Free Press Kashmir. Feedback and counter-views are welsome at [email protected].
Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
What would George Orwell have made of Kashmir’s situation in 2020? His prophetic work on extensive government over-reach, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of all persons and behaviours has resonance to life in Kashmir today.
Here, the Indian state exists in a kind of sadomasochistic relationship that pins down an entire population to perpetuate its power. Since August last year, the government has embarked on a mission to perpetuate drastic changes in the predominantly Muslim majority region. The policies that the Indian government is implementing since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomous status last August, will bring tectonic shifts in the Kashmiri society.
Kashmiris are rightly incredulous that the Bhartiya Janta Party-led government is committed to ’empowering’ Kashmiris because they are abreast of the nefarious designs of the Hindu nationalist party. On the first anniversary of the abrogation, here is a look back at the various policy-changes it has brought about in Kashmir.
Disempowering indigenous population, settling outsiders
The demotion of J-K from a state with a so-called ‘special status’ to now a union territory directly controlled by the BJP-led government in New Delhi, through its appointed Lieutenant Governor, disintegrates J-K legislature’s autonomy awarded-to it through the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization order 2019 disempowers the state legislature of J-K from defining “permanent residents” and their rights, as was guaranteed under Article 35A.
The reorganization order is another step by the Government of India to settle non-indigenous people in the Valley by changing the domicile laws.
Under new domicile law, imposed amid the pandemic, non-natives who have resided for a period of 15 years in Kashmir are now eligible for domiciliary rights.
India is systematically paving the way for a forced demographic change in Kashmir thus institutionalising a system of domination over indigenous population.
17.4 lakh people can certainly acquire domicile rights, which constitute roughly 14% of J&K’s population of 1.23 crore in 2011, when the last census was carried in the region. Today, the numbers could be, perhaps, even higher.
Re-educating the population
According to newly introduced Education Policy 2020, -the government intends to give “due preference” to what it calls “reputed players” in the education industry who are willing to set up private universities in J-K.
The government says that it will facilitate the allotment of land in J-K and coordinate with the concerned departments for the required approval and clearances to facilitate the process of setting up of new private educational institutions.
Private players from outside Kashmir will be incentivized to set up educational institutions, even when local initiatives— for example the Transworld Muslim University — have long been scuttled.
The new education policy aims to whitewash local history and rewrite the textbooks to represent an obfuscated narrative suited to the present dispensation’s ideological moorings.
The Narendra Modi government in New Delhi has been accused of “saffronising” education – particularly by editing history textbooks and more recently omitting passages on democracy, secularism and the pro-freedom movement in Kashmir.
Gagging the press to hide the truth
The policy of harassment and intimidation of journalists for highlighting people’s issues has frequently been reported in Kashmir but with the introduction of New Media Policy the government seems to have given this policy of intimidation an official sanctum.
The J-K administration approved the new media policy stating that it was meant for “effective communication and public outreach”.
The policy, however, also outlines the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), the nodal agency to disseminate government handouts, to “examine” the content of print, electronic and various other forms of media for “fake news, plagiarism and unethical or anti-national activities”, and take legal action against individual journalists or news organisations.
The new media policy has rendered J-K newspapers into government pamphlets. The policy has been described as an attempt “to kill journalism”, and a “remnant of the colonial era”.
It is indeed an attempt to control the narrative and throttle the freedom of the press, and it plain state censorship where government will decide what to publish and what not to.
In the end, marching backwards
The Government of India’s promise for the abrogation of region’s semi-autonomous status, was that the complete integration of the erstwhile state with the Indian Union will usher in a new era of peace and development in the ‘economically backward’ region.
Almost a year has passed since the unilateral move to redraw the political map of the restive Valley, peace is not only fragile, but elusive to say the least.
A recent report by Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a human rights group, documents that Kashmir saw 229 killings in the first half of 2020, which includes 143 militants and 32 civilian deaths.
What is happening in Kashmir during thelockdown? Kashmir is witnessing the longest internet blackout in any “democracy”.
August 5, 2020, also marks a complete year without high-speed internet in Kashmir. The human rights violations here are alarming now but the current dispensation is furthering its ideological agenda in the pretext of enforcing a lockdown to “contain the pandemic”.
The revocation of the ‘special status’ has only deepened anxieties in Kashmir. Locals fear increased level of violence if there is an influx of outsiders into the region of Kashmir. Even though the conflict in Kashmir is rooted in territory and ethnic identity, it has a strong psychological dimension as well.
As tensions continue to rise in Kashmir after August 5, fear has once again gripped the valley of Kashmir. The mental health burden of this militarisation is reflected in the general psychology of the already anxious population.
So what did the Government of India achieve with the revocation of the Kashmir’s special status?
A complete abrogation of democracy and an unconscionable suppression of civil and democratic rights.
There are killings and the dehumanization of the indigenous people, and plundering of mineral and other resources in the guise of development.
Democracy has been denied to Kashmiris for the last seven decades, but today, Kashmiris are facing an existential threat.
Sahir Bilal is a research scholar at Central University of Kashmir.
Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position and policy of Free Press Kashmir. Feedback and counter-views are welsome at [email protected].
Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
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