It has been five years since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomous status, leaving it more vulnerable to regional and geopolitical threats due to its internationally recognized status as a disputed territory.
For many, this was yet another attempt by India to suppress the local population’s right of self-determination. Immediately after revoking Article 370 of the Indian constitution, Delhi imposed an indefinite curfew in the region, shut down the internet and undertook mass arrests to control and suppress local opposition. Resultantly, the barbed wire of tyranny embroiled a Kashmir already scarred by militarization.
Despite subsequent endorsement by the Indian Supreme Court, the undemocratic exercise of unilaterally revoking Kashmir’s special status triggered a wave of contentious legal decisions. Delhi ended an exclusive protection of permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir to apply for government jobs and buy property in the state; repealed 12 and amended 14 land-related laws to allow a development authority to confiscate land; and allowed high-ranking army officials to declare designated areas as strategically important. The combined effect of these policies grants government agencies authority to seize both residential and agricultural lands in the name of development and security, enabling mass evictions and the bulldozing of houses that are disproportionately affecting Muslim communities and small landowners.
The detentions that followed the revocation of Article 370 also decimated local representation, leaving no significant voices to fight against unchecked development. These policies had little benefit for the local communities, as Jammu and Kashmir’s unemployment rate was recorded over 18 percent in 2023, significantly higher than the Indian average of 8 percent. Since 2019, India has also ramped up efforts to silence local criticism, detaining over 2,700 people—journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers—between 2020 and 2023 under India’s contentious Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Public Safety Act. These actions have only deepened the trust-deficit between Kashmiris and the Indian government, pushing the local population into distress, and also jeopardizing India’s already fragile relations with its neighbors Pakistan and China. Curiously, Modi tends to neglect the neighborhood where India’s national security faces the most the risks, with India’s diplomatic engagement with China mostly uncertain and its ties with Pakistan practically nonexistent.