If the US and Pakistan start talking about Kashmir in unison tomorrow, India will have to bear the heat.
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There has been a lot of unrest in the Kashmir Valley in the last few days. The deployment of more security forces to the valley, the evacuation of Amarnath pilgrims, the detention of Kashmiri leaders were all happening fast and there was speculation that the central government would take some major decision on Kashmir. Finally, on Monday, August 5, the Central Government put an end to these speculations and announced the historic decision to divide Jammu and Kashmir by repealing Article 370, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir. This historic decision will radically change the relationship between India and Kashmir.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in Parliament that he was repealing Section 370, sub-section 3 of the same section, which gives the President the power to continue or suspend the functional validity of the section. This article of the Constitution had given special status to Jammu and Kashmir. By separating it from the Indian Constitution (in addition to Articles 1 and Article 370), this section allowed Jammu and Kashmir to draft its own constitution. Now Jammu and Kashmir has been divided into two Union Territories. Ladakh will be a Union Territory but if there is no Legislature then there will be a Legislature in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) supported the historic decision while the BJP-affiliated Samyukta Janata Dal (SJD) opposed the decision. Resigned. Leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, of course, strongly opposed the Centre's decision, as expected, and warned that it would have serious consequences. The decision taken by the central government is not surprising.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised in its manifesto that sections 370 and 35A, which had given special status to Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha elections, would be repealed if it came to power. No one can stop the BJP from fulfilling the promises made in its manifesto, because it has a majority. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, was arrested by the Sheikh Abdullah government in 1953 in Srinagar. Mukherjee was acquitted while in custody. Since then, Article 370 has been on the agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Bharatiya Janata Party's official position since then is that this clause giving special status to Kashmir should be scrapped.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the Modi government was once again elected by a huge majority. It was expected that the issue of Kashmir would be high on their agenda. The issue of Kashmir was a headache for any government. But the Modi government once again showed its courage by confronting this issue and resolving this issue. That is why the ongoing movement in the Kashmir Valley in the last few weeks was part of creating an environment for this big decision, it is now becoming clear. The consequences of this decision will be seen in the near future. The success of the decision will depend on the repercussions of this historic decision in Kashmir.
The credibility of the mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir had reached a tipping point. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was in turmoil due to the corruption and indifference of the leaders of the mainstream political parties and the separatist leaders who have become a pawn in the hands of Pakistan. So this situation would have to face challenges at some point.
The ongoing rapprochement between Afghanistan and Pakistan also paved the way for a historic and decisive decision on Kashmir. The statement made by US President Donald Trump on Kashmir, followed by the visit of Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan to the US, had created the right environment for a concrete decision on Kashmir to be taken at the international level. Therefore, it is safe to say that the central government seized this opportunity at the right time.
If the US and Pakistan start talking about Kashmir in unison tomorrow, India will have to bear the brunt. Therefore, it was the right time to take a decisive step towards Kashmir. India is also playing an important role in Afghanistan, which is a matter of concern to Pakistan. So at the same time Pakistan and the US wanted to send a message to India, which was achieved through this decision.
Therefore, it is important that Prime Minister Narendra Modi raises the issue of Kashmir, whether in preparation or at any other time. The decision has hurt both the United States and Pakistan. Under tremendous pressure, Pakistan will remain in the mindset of doing 'something'. At present, Pakistan has vehemently opposed India's repeal of Article 370.
Stating that India's unilateral decision on Kashmir will not resolve the issue permanently, the Pakistani leadership has made it clear that Pakistan will use all possible means to respond to India's move. One possibility is that Pakistan will try to draw the world's attention to the issue by presenting it with full force in the forthcoming session of the UN General Assembly. How much the world will be interested in this issue is a separate matter.
The Centre's decision to repeal Article 370, which gives special status to Kashmir, is not something that everyone in India has digested. We have become so accustomed to Kashmir and Article 370 that the intellectuals have begun to suspect that there must be something wrong with this decision. But many of us would like to ignore this view of intellectuals. Because the 'as is' situation in Kashmir has been eating away at Hindkole for the last several years.
To date, no authority has shown the mindset to confront the Kashmir issue. Political inevitability may have contributed to this. The 'Kashmir issue' has always been a bilateral issue between the citizens of New Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. It would be presumptuous to say that the rest of India has been accustomed to the situation in Kashmir for the last 70 years. However, it was time to make a policy change. Just as the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are interested in the developments in the rest of India, so will the people of the rest of India be interested in the two new independent Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
This new move of the Modi government has made it clear that in the case of this government, it is serious about the states which have some serious problems, errors and it is the government that seeks answers to the problems. Also, this government is not looking back to provide a way for the new creations in Kashmir to develop. The people were fed up with the violence. Therefore, it was imperative to take steps to remove Section 370.
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