2023-12-11 12:47:23
This time it’s final. The Supreme Court of India on Monday endorsed the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to end the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir, home to an insurgency for decades. The 2019 decision, which allowed New Delhi to directly administer this Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir region, represented “a culmination of the integration process and, as such, a valid exercise of power,” he said. declared the highest court in the country in its verdict.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately welcomed this decision, which he described as “historic”. It is “a glimmer of hope, the promise of a better future and a testimony of our collective determination to build a stronger and more united India,” said the Hindu nationalist leader on X (ex-Twitter).
Today’s Supreme Court verdict on the abrogation of Article 370 is historic and constitutionally upholds the decision taken by the Parliament of India on 5th August 2019; it is a resounding declaration of hope, progress and unity for our sisters and brothers in Jammu, Kashmir and…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 11, 2023
The Supreme Court of India also ordered on Monday that elections be held in Jammu and Kashmir next year, saying that it should be put on an equal footing with other Indian states. as soon as possible”, with a vote to be organized by September 30, 2024.
Communication outage
The revocation of Kashmir’s limited autonomy was accompanied by the imposition of direct rule from New Delhi, mass arrests, a total closure of this state and a communications blackout that lasted for month, as India strengthened its armed forces in the region to contain the protests. The decision was contested by Kashmir’s pro-India political parties, the local bar association and individuals, leading to Monday’s verdict.
Prime Minister Modi’s heavy-handed policies have been highly controversial in Kashmir, but have been widely celebrated across India as the insurgency that left tens of thousands dead for decades has largely subsided. Authorities have deployed hundreds of soldiers, paramilitary troops and police in the main city of Srinagar to thwart any protests.
Removing Section 370 has been a key plank of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) agenda since its inception, and the Supreme Court’s decision comes ahead of next year’s elections.
“Some battles are fought to be lost”
Kapil Sibal, one of the lawyers who argued for the revocation to be declared unconstitutional – the Supreme Court having held hearings on the subject for 16 days – was philosophical. “Some battles are fought to be lost,” he wrote on X, even before the verdict was revealed. He said the lawsuit was intended to ensure that “history records the uncomfortable facts for generations to know.” “History alone is the final arbiter of the moral compass of historical decisions,” he added.
Courts
Some battles are fought to be lost
For history must record the uncomfortable facts for generations to know
The right and wrong of institutional actions will be debated for years to come
History alone is the final arbiter
of the moral compass of historic decisions— Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) December 11, 2023
Since the suspension of Article 370 in 2019, Indian authorities have restricted media freedom and public protests, drastically limiting civil liberties. The changes allowed Indians from outside the region to buy land there and seek government jobs and scholarships, a policy denounced by rights advocates as “settler colonialism.”
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan which, since their independence in 1947, claim sovereignty over the entire Himalayan territory. It was the cause of two of the three wars between them since. The Indian-administered part has seen more than three decades of unrest, which has left tens of thousands dead. Delhi accuses Pakistan of supporting separatists, which Islamabad refutes.
Since 2019, the separatist insurgency has been largely crushed in Indian Kashmir, although young men continue to join it. More than half a million Indian troops are deployed in the territory to control the insurgency that broke out in 1989. As of 2023, just over 120 people have been killed, two-thirds of them insurgents.
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