On 5 August 2019, the Government of India changed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by an unconstitutional move and revoked Article 370. With immediate effect the government of India imposed an indefinite lockdown the so-called secular state of India halted all communication networks, restricting the movement of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. Consistently, India violated Article 32 of the 4th Geneva Convention which prohibits any torture of civilians on forcefully occupied territory.
India’s revocation of Article 370 violated international law, altering the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir unilaterally.
According to reports, in January 2020, the people of Jammu Kashmir had no access to internet service, and thousands of Kashmiris were in detention including key political figures who fought for freedom which raised ongoing human rights concerns. Despite the constitutional safeguard of the region by the UN and Geneva Convention, India used its influence on anti-Pakistan nations like Israel who have accepted the new reality of Kashmir and stated it as “an internal matter of India”.
After the announcement that was made in August 2019 in Parliament, the Government of India mobilized its foreign missions to different countries to ensure that the Kashmir narrative remained positive and to impose its stance that the matter was “internal” to India.
Initially, it was India itself that took the dispute to the UN Security Council. On 22 January 1948, the Security Council declared the ‘Jammu and Kashmir Question’ to the ‘India Pakistan Question’. Later on the UN Security Council resolutions of August 13, 1948, and January 5, 1949, explicitly laid down that the question of the accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan would be decided through the democratic method and impartial plebiscite.
After the signing of the Simla Agreement in 1972, India argued that the earlier UN resolutions had become redundant and that the issue had to be dealt with bilaterally. The government of Pakistan believing in the United Nations resolution of 1948 rejected the unconstitutional move of India and the unilateral changes in the status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The government of Pakistan declared it a violation of United Nations law and international agreements and repeatedly requested to UN and the international community to stop India from changing the demography of disputed territory.
Pakistan continues to reject India’s move, urging the UN and the global community to prevent demographic changes in Kashmir.
The Indian government began to convince the world of its unconstitutional move by revoking Article 370. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his External Affairs Minister argued on various occasions that the changes in the status of Jammu and Kashmir were well-intentioned. For that purpose, Modi exploited his visits and spoke to Donald Trump the then President of the US, and President Ramnath Kovind of Switzerland to convince them of the revocation of Article 370.
The Indian External Affairs Minister visited extensively worldwide, especially in Europe and Asia, to minimize international pressure on the Kashmir issue. The government of India also sent a special team of the minister of external affairs to meet with key members of the UN Human Rights Council members to explain India’s position. The Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited Middle Eastern countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar to minimize reasonable criticism from different countries over the issue of disputed territory.
Nevertheless, such a persuasive policy of the Indian government did not save the country’s image as claiming a so-called “legitimate state”. Internationally, the move was highly criticized and declared as India’s unilateral action to alter the status of a territory that is considered disputed by Pakistan as well as by the United Nations.
For instance, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal in America have been highly critical of the Modi government for the abrogation of Article 370 and abolishing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir is violating all principles of International Law. News organizations from the United Kingdom, Daily Mail declared Kashmir a “disputed region”, while BBC reported the action as a violation of human rights in the region.
International media and human rights organizations have condemned India’s actions, citing severe human rights abuses in Kashmir.
In global politics, India often allegedly blamed Pakistan as a primary aggressor in Kashmir and the root of most problems in the region. Internally India persistently violates the basic rights of Kashmiri citizens by allowing the Indians to acquire property in Jammu and Kashmir. India’s ruling party BJP leaders indicated a plan to form exclusive Hindu settlements in the region.
The move which would lead to a demographic transformation of the region from majority Muslim to majority Hindu is a violation of Article 49 of the Geneva Convention which prohibits any sort of illegal settlement in occupied territory. On the international level, the arrogant behavior of the Indian government and the violation of the United Nations resolution that recognized Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory raised questions.
Moreover, the February 2019 airstrikes on Balakot and the revoking of Articles 370 and 35A by the Indian government revealed its hypocrisy. India’s longstanding position that Kashmir is an internal matter has come under question through its country’s diplomatic moves. The Government of India has transformed the status of J& K from an international dispute to a bilateral one, and now to a “unilateral matter”. If that is the case, why does it consistently strive for third-party validation for its unconstitutional actions?
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.
