Jammu and Kashmir are undergoing big change at present making international News.

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August 2019: Article 370 is history. Lok Sabha scraps
Kashmir special status
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday [6-8-2019] has vetted the
government's move to immediately scrap Article 370, a historical
provision that had extended a special status to Jammu and Kashmir for
nearly seven decades. It has carved two union territories out of the
Himalayan state. The two changes that would bring the state under the
direct control of the Centre, the government insists, would help curb
terrorism backed by Pakistan and fast track development.
The resolution to end special status for Jammu and Kashmir and
the bill to split J&K into two centrally-administered territories were
passed by more than 351 votes in favour of the motion, 72 against.
Home Minister Amit Shah who led the government's move in
Parliament, described Article 370 as a provision that had created a
barrier between Kashmir and the rest of the country. "This is why
everyone keeps on repeating that Kashmir is an integral part of India…
Why don't we say that for Tamil Nadu or Uttar Pradesh.... Because
Article 370 created suspicions," said Shah.
Once this law and resolution on Article 370 are passed, this
hurdle would disappear, Shah said in his response to a day-long
debate in the Lok Sabha on the two provisions.
That the proposals would be passed by the Lok Sabha was never
in doubt. The BJP-led ruling coalition NDA has an overwhelming
majority in the lower house. In the Rajya Sabha where it is still short of
majority, the bill was passed by a two-third majority.

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In a blog, former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has suggested the
public mood in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Kashmir policy
had compelled many opposition parties to support the bill. Shah
elaborated this point in Lok Sabha, stressing that except for a handful
of lawmakers, most opposition leaders who demanded continuation of
Article 370 did not spell out even one benefit that would accrue on
account of this provision.
Post-independence History
Migration of Kashmiri Pandits:
Insecurity due to armed conflict in the 1990s compelled around
55,000 Kashmiri Pandit families to flee their homes and take shelter in
Jammu, Delhi and elsewhere in the country. Despite being numerically
small, the community was a “highly visible” group that was traditionally
land owning, educated and elitist. They were able to convey their
distress at being forced to live for two decades in temporary shelters
with minimal basic facilities. Politicians and other leaders have spoken
of their return, but none could guarantee their safety. It must be noted,
however, that there were Pandit families who did not migrate in the
1990s, and some of the migrants later returned to the valley.
CONFLICT AND INSTITUTIONS
The present crisis is a result of the inability to enforce a set of abstract
rules leading to the emergence of new institutional practices.

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These include:
 The government and its various agencies,
 Non-state armed groups and
 Other socio-political organisations.
All have come to be associated in different capacities in the course of
the conflict. The initial reaction to the conflict has been to treat it as a
case of non-implementation of rules, that is, as a law and order
problem. This helped the rebels tap the discontent that emerged from
the alleged human rights violations by the government forces. The
dissatisfaction on the ground was compounded by the inability of the
successive governments to meet the growing aspirations of its people.
In practice this widespread discontent and responses to it, have
created non-state institutions of the armed and unarmed groups. South
Asia Terrorism Portal listed as many as 35 active and not-so-active
armed groups involved in the current conflict. The list included, among
others, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
Armed groups created para-state organisations in the areas they
operated in that lay down a set of rules and have the means and
resources to enforce them. Thus, they not only monitored the
government but also administered their own social welfare services to
gain public support from their distribution of public goods.
In this way, many of the functions which are within the domain of
the state institutions have been encroached upon by the non-state
institutions. They also boycott all Indian national events like
Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations. The overall impact

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has been the dilution of the legitimacy of state institutions. There is a
proliferation of a large number of socio-political organisations such as
the All Party Hurriyat Conference which have been playing different
roles in the course of the conflict.
OPTIONS
Apart from the usual call for dialogue with all the disgruntled groups,
the effort of the government has so far made very little success on the
ground. The tendency to view the conflict as a law and order problem
has contributed to the willingness to use force. Central assistance has
increased considerably over the years to promoting faster economic
development of the state. One of the major development initiatives
undertaken was the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan initiated in
2004 that involved an outlay of approximately Rs. 28000 crores for
various development projects. Further, there has been a special
focus on “people to people” contact across two parts of the state
through Cross LoC Travel and Cross LoC Trade. Very recently,
the Central government initiated a comprehensive peace plan that
included, among others, the appointment of interlocutors who are
entrusted with the task of undertaking a sustained dialogue
with the people of the state to understand their problems and chart a
future course of action.
Above all, India and Pakistan continue to engage in bilateral talks
leading to a series of Kashmir-specific confidence building measures
(CBMs). Among the other options that have not always received the
attention they deserve, are the grant of autonomy, repeal of
AFSPA/PSA, enhancement of the National Human Rights

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Commission’s (NHRC) role in the state, third-party mediation, and
reorganisation of the state.
1947 Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India
The erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to
India on 26 October 1947 through an Instrument of Accession executed
by Hari Singh, the then ruler. It was formally accepted by Lord
Mountbatten, the Governor General of India, on 27 October 1947.
Pakistan alleged that Hari Singh had no right to execute the accession
when the Standstill Agreement was in force with it, while India
maintained that it was legal.
Bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir
A Ceasefire Line came into being in 1949 following the Karachi
Agreement by India, Pakistan and the United Nations in accordance
with the United Nations resolution of 13 August 1948, and divided
Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
Delhi Agreement, 1952
The agreement provided for Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy within the
Indian Union. Its main features include the vesting of the residuary
powers of legislature in the Indian Union. Its main features include the
vesting of the residuary powers of legislature in the state itself; the state
would have its own flag in addition to the union flag; the Sadari-Riyasat
would be elected by the state legislature and be a person acceptable to

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and appointed by the President of India; Articles 52 to 62 of the
Constitution of India relating to the President and Vice President would
be applicable to the state; and the Supreme Court of India would have
only appellate jurisdiction.
Simla Agreement, 1972
Through this agreement, both India and Pakistan agreed to settle their
differences over Jammu and Kashmir through peaceful bilateral
negotiations. Pending the final settlement of any of the problems,
neither side would unilaterally alter the situation. Both sides also
decided to withdraw their respective forces to their side of the
international border; and decided to respect the Line of Control
(LoC) resulting from the cease-fire of December 1971.
August 2019:
IN HIS ADDRESS to the nation two days after Parliament ratified
his government s decision to end the special status of Jammu and
Kashmir and split the state into two Union Territories, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi sought to explain the reasons for the move, and to allay
the misgivings of a section of the population.
MODI SPOKE directly to the people of India, including those in
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and assured them that Article 370 of
the Constitution had been removed for their benefit, to fulfill the
aspirations of the people, and to lift roadblocks on the path to
development and progress of the region.
IN HIS SPEECH, delivered in Hindi, the Prime Minister used the
words Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh 65 times and 28 times respectively,

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and referred to desh (nation) 22 times. There were 18 mentions of
sarkar (government), 10 mentions of log (people), and eight of vishwas
(faith). Article 370 was mentioned on seven occasions.
Calling for "maximum restraint" by all sides, UN Secretary
General Antonio Gutteres on Thursday indicated the Kashmir dispute
needs to be resolved bilaterally in keeping with the Shimla Agreement
of 1972 and by peaceful means in accordance with the UN charter.
The reference to the Shimla Agreement in this context is rare and
significant, according to people familiar with these discussions, as it
provides the framework for resolving the dispute bilaterally, which is a
rebuff in a way to Pakistan's attempts to seek UN intervention.
Pakistan had sought UN and UNSC intervention in a letter to
Gutteres, but it appears to have not achieved its objectives. Pakistan's
permanent representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi had written on
Twitter on Tuesday that the letter, written by Foreign Minister Shah
Mehmood Qureshi would make "clear that the rights of Kashmiris as
provided by Security Council resolutions cannot be abrogated by any
unilateral action. Compliance of SC resolutions on J&K is essential for
peace in our region". She did not say, but was referring to Resolutions
39 and 47 from 1948, which set up a UN-mandated commission to help
resolve the dispute and recommended a plebiscite in the state to
determine its final status.
The two nations have been exchanging blows after Centre took
the decision to scrap the special status of the Valley, following which
the Pakistan foreign ministry downgraded diplomatic ties with India on
Wednesday and suspended bilateral agreements.

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Pre-independence history of Kashmir
Bernier, the first European to enter Kashmir, wrote in 1665: “In truth,
the kingdom surpasses in beauty all that my warmest imagination had
anticipated.”
From reliable historic records, we know that Asoka’s empire extended
to Kashmir as is evident from the remains of Buddhist temples,
stupas and statues, and in the ruins of cities founded by him about
250 years before Christ and 200 years before the Romans landed in
Britain. In Kashmir Asoka founded the original city of Srinagar, then
situated on the site of the present village of Pandrathan, 3 miles
above the existing capital.
The next landmark in Kashmir’s history is the reign of Kanishka, the
Indo- Scythian ruler of upper India around 40 AD when the Romans
were conquering Britain and Buddhism was beginning to spread to
China. Kanishka was of Turkish descent and was renowned as a
pious Buddhist king who held in Kashmir the famous Third Great
Council of the Buddhist Order which drew up the Northern Canon or
“Greater Vehicle of the Law.” Nagarjuna, a famous Bodhisattva who
exercised a spiritual lordship over the land was a contemporary of
Kanishka.
Buddhism was in its peak during the time of Kanishka. However,
soon Brahministic Hinduism started reasserting itself. Coming in
conflict with Hinduism, Buddhism waned. When Hiuen Tsiang, the
Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, visited Kashmir in 631 AD, he observed:
“This kingdom is not much given to the faith, and the temples of
the heretics are their sole thought.”

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After Kanishka, the next notable but exceedingly cruel ruler of
Kashmir was Mihirkula (6
th
Century AD), known as the ‘White Hun’
and a persecutor of the Buddhist faith, whose kingdom extended to
Kabul and central India. People would know his movement by
noticing the vultures, crows and other birds flying ahead of him to feed
on his victims. The most famous indigenous king of Kashmir was
Lalitaditya (699-736AD), a contemporary of Charlemagne, who
preceded king Alfred by over a century.
His grandfather, the founder of his dynasty, was a man of humble
origin but connected through marriage with the previous royal family.
The Kashmiri historians speak of Lalitaditya as conquering the world.
However, the fact is that he asserted his authority over the hilly tracts
of Northern Punjab, reduced the king of Kanauj to submission,
conquered the Tibetans and Badakhshan in central Asia and sent
embassies to Peking. He erected the gorgeous temple at Martand and
founded the city of Parihasapura (now in ruins), near the present
Shadipur.
Lalitaditya’s rule was succeeded by weak kings barring his grandson
who was as illustrious as the grandfather. After a series of
insignificant rulers, economic depression and political instability,
Kashmir found a talented ruler in Avantivarman (855-883) who was
more known for his consolidation efforts rather than his conquest.
The town of Avantipura, named after the king, has survived to the
present day.

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His reign was remarkable for the execution of an engineering scheme
to prevent floods and drain the valley. The Kashmiri engineer Suyya
diagnosed correctly more than thousand years ago that floods in the
valley were due to the water of the Jhelum river not being able to get
through the gorge 3 miles below Baramula with sufficient rapidity. The
constricted passage got blocked with boulders and Suyya adopted a
novel method to have the boulders removed. He threw money into the
river where the obstruction lay. Soon it spread that there was money
at the bottom of the river and men dashed in to retrieve it and rooted
up all the obstructing boulders in their search. So says the legend. As
a result of removal of the obstruction, a large land was available for
cultivation with protection against floods.
After Avantivarman, Kashmir saw a row of weak successors,
palace intrigues and assassinations, till the rule of Harsha (1089-
1101), said to be the most striking figure among the later Hindu
rulers of Kashmir. He was courageous and well versed in various
sciences as also a lover of music and arts. Later he degenerated into
a despot and fell a victim of revolt. He was slain in the fighting. His
head was cut off and burned, while his naked body was cremated by
a compassionate wood dealer.
For 2 centuries more the Hindu rule in Kashmir continued. In 13th
century, Kalhan the most reliable historian of Kashmir was living and
from his annals we get most authentic account of Kashmir’s history.
In 1339, Shah Mir, a Mohammedan ruler, deposed the widow of the
last Hindu ruler and founded a Mohammedan dynasty. The most
illustrious Muslim ruler of Kashmir before it came under Mughal rule

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in 1586, was Zain-ul-ab-ul-din (1420-70). He was virtuous, liberal, a
friend of cultivators, built many bridges and constructed many canals.
He repaired some Hindu temples and revived Hindu learning. In 1532
Kashmir passed under Turkish rule when Mirza Haider occupied it for
a brief period. In 1586 Kashmir was incorporated in the dominions
of Akbar, the contemporary of queen Elizabeth of Great Britain.
Akbar visited Kashmir three times, made a land revenue settlement
and built the fort of Hari Parbat. Jehangir, Akbar’s son, built the
stately pleasure gardens, the Shalimar and Nishat Baghs where he
and his wife Nurjehan, the most beautiful woman of her time, spent
many a pleasant summer day. During the reign of Aurangzeb,
Bernier, the French traveler visited Kashmir. He described it as “the
terrestrial paradise of the Indies.
Though during most of the time under the Mughal rule Kashmir was
prosperous, with the decaying of the Mughal Empire, Kashmir fell
once more into wild disorder and eventually came under the
oppressive rule of the Afghans in 1750, marked as a time of “brutal
tyranny”.
When the oppression became unendurable, the Kashmiris turned to
Ranjit Singh, the powerful Sikh ruler of the Punjab who after an
unsuccessful attempt finally defeated the Afghan governor in 1819
and annexed Kashmir.
However, by that time nine-tenths of the population had been
forcibly converted to Islam. After the death of Ranjit Singh, Gulab
Singh, the king of Jammu and a friend of Ranjit Singh, became the
virtual master of the valley though it nominally belonged to the Sikh
rulers at Lahore.

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Gulab Singh was a Dogra Rajput who maintained excellent
rapport with Ranjit Singh and later with his successors till the British
occupied Lahore and Punjab. However, in consideration of the good
conduct of Gulab Singh, the British agreed to recognize his
independence.
On March 16, 1846, the British signed a separate treaty with
Gualb Singh by which the British Government “transferred and
made over, forever, in independent possession, to Maharaja
Gulab Singh and the heirs male of his body, all the hilly and
mountainous country, with its dependencies, situated to the
eastward of the river Indus and westward of the river Ravi,
including Chamba and excluding Lahoul, being part of the territories
ceded to the British Government by the Lahore State.” Gulab Singh
in turn was to pay the British Government 75 lakhs of rupees.
Gulab Singh was succeeded by his son Ranbir Singh in 1857.
He rendered valuable services to the British Government during the
Sepoy Mutiny. Ranbir Singh died in 1885. Under his rule there was
steady improvement. The dynasty ruled Kashmir till king Hari Singh
transferred power to independent India in 1947 by a deed.
POST-INDEPENDENCE HISTORY
Commencement of organized violence
The state has witnessed active armed conflict since the late 1980s. It
was preceded by a state assembly election in 1987 that was widely-
believed to be rigged, and an anti-India demonstration that broke out
in the Kashmir Valley in 1988. The first major rebel attack took
place with bomb explosions in the city of Srinagar in July 1988. The
rebels stepped up violent activities including the kidnapping of Rubia

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Syed, the daughter of the then Union Home Minister, in December
1989. She was released in exchange for the release of five rebel
leaders.
Kashmiri Pandits’ displacement:
Insecurity caused by the early phase of the armed conflict led to the
exodus of tens of thousands of Pandits from the Kashmir Valley.
Some 55,000 families were said to have been affected, and living
in Jammu, Delhi and some other places.
Seize of Hazratbal shrine
In 1993, security forces surrounded Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar
following its occupation by armed rebels. The siege ended
after 32 days and the rebels surrendered. Seize of Charar-e-Sharief
shrine
In 1995, security forces launched an offensive to flush out armed
rebels holed up at Charar-e-Sharief. The Charar-eSharief shrine and a
portion of the town were damaged in the subsequent gunbattle.
Several rebels were killed while others escaped.
Kargil war
Soon after the signing the Lahore Declaration by Indian Prime Minister,
A B Vajpayee and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in February
1999, Pakistani soldiers were spotted in Kargil area of Jammu and
Kashmir in the month of May, forcing India to launched military action

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to flush out the intruders. The Indian armed forces successfully evicted
the intruders. Both sides ceased military operations in July.
Passing of autonomy resolution
In 2000, the state assembly passed a resolution accepting the report of
the State Autonomy Committee (set up by the state government to
examine the issue of greater autonomy). The report recommended
greater autonomy including the restoration of the pre-1953
constitutional status of the state. The resolution was summarily
rejected by the Central government.
Collapse of the ceasefire
On 24 July 2000, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, an active rebel group,
offered a three-month long cease-fire to facilitate negotiations with the
Central government. The government accepted the offer. During the
first round of talks, Hizb-ul Mujahideen insisted the government must
acknowledge Kashmir as a trilateral dispute necessitating tripartite
talks between India, Pakistan and people of Jammu and Kashmir. On
8 August, it withdrew from the cease-fire citing non-inclusion of
Pakistan.
Ceasefire during Ramadan
The Central government offered to suspend combat operations by
security forces against rebels during the holy month of Ramadan with
effect from 27 November 2000, hours ahead of commencement of the
holy month. The six-month ceasefire was revoked on 23 May 2001.

15. Attack on state Assembly
On 1 October 2001, unidentified gunmen sneaked into the high-
security Assembly complex located in Srinagar and engaged
the security forces deployed there in a gun-battle, killing several
people. The Jaishe-Mohammad, a leading armed group, claimed
responsibility for the attack.
Amarnath land controversy
In 2008, trouble broke out in the Kashmir valley opposing the state
authorities’ decision to transfer 100 acres of forest land to Shri
Amaranth Shrine Board for setting up temporary shelters for pilgrims.
The Congress party-led state government plunged into a crisis after
the People Democratic Party (PDP) pulled out of the coalition opposing
the land transfer. When the state government revoked the land
transfer order, violent protests broke out in Jammu region. The issue
soon snowballed into a divide between Jammu region and Kashmir
valley. The Central government intervened and called an all-political
party meeting. The Board later gave up the claim on the forest land
after the government gave an assurance to provide all necessary
facilities to pilgrims going to the shrine.
Protests against alleged human rights violations
Over 150 people were killed in 2010 when violent demonstrations
broke out for over three months in Srinagar and its surrounding areas.
It was triggered by the alleged excesses committed by the security

16. forces. Educational institutions were shut down for over three months
due to the unrest. To defuse the situation, an all-political party
delegation led by the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram
visited the state in September that year and met representatives of
political parties including separatist leaders. Following this visit, the
Central government initiated a comprehensive peace plan, known as
the Eight-point Peace Formula. This provides for the appointment of
interlocutors to initiate dialogue and a review of the deployment
of security forces.
Jammu and Kashmir, situated between 320
172 N and 360
582N latitude, and 730
262 E and 800
302 E longitude, constitutes the
northernmost state of India. The altitude varies from 1000 to 28250
feet above the sea level. It shares borders with Pakistan in the west,
China in the north and east, and the Indian states of Punjab and
Himachal Pradesh in the south.
It has a total area of 222,236 sq. km (78,114 sq. km under the
occupation of Pakistan, 37,555 sq. km under China, and
another 5,180 sq. km handed over to China by Pakistan). The
erstwhile princely state was administratively divided into Jammu,
Kashmir, Ladakh and Gilgit. In 1949 it was bifurcated. The Indian part
consists of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The Muzaffarabad area and
Northern Areas are under de facto Pakistan administration. In addition,
China controls the trans-Karakoram Shaksgam valley and the adjacent
region, which Pakistan unilaterally ceded to it in 1963 as part of a
boundary settlement, and also Aksaichin and a strip of Western
Ladakh, into which it intruded and then militarily occupied in 1962.

17. The state consisted of seven broad physiographic zones: plains,
foothills, lesser Himalayas, greater Himalayas, Kashmir valley, upper
Indus valley, and Karakoram.2 The Jammu region comprises the
plains, hills and mountains south and west of the Pir Panjal range.
The Kashmir valley is situated at an average elevation of about 5,300
feet above sea level. Ladakh constitutes the easternmost part. The
Jammu-Srinagar national highway is the only road link between
Kashmir valley and rest of the country. The railway network has started
making its presence felt in the state.
Except for Jammu and Kathua districts on the plains and the plateau of
Ladakh, the state is a mountainous region. The water resources are
abundant. The state is administratively divided into Kashmir and
Jammu divisions which are further subdivided into 22 districts. The
Ladakh region comes under Kashmir division. Each division_headed
by a Divisional Commissioner, each district by a Deputy Commissioner.
The climatic conditions vary from tropical in Jammu plains to semi-
arctic cold in Ladakh with Kashmir and Jammu mountainous tracts
having a temperate climate. The annual rainfall varies from
about 92.6 mm in Leh, 650.5 mm in Srinagar and 1115.9 mm in
Jammu.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on Thursday
evening to speak about the government’s decision to scrap Article 370,
separating Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and turning them into union
territories.

18. Modi said that the decision would bring a lot of benefits to the people
of Jammu & Kashmir and will also invite industries to set up shop in the
union territories. The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) is also
organising an investment summit in Jammu & Kashmir in October.
Jammu & Kashmir, which is referred to as the crown of India, has long
been referred to as “Heaven on earth” for its picturesque beauty. With
Article 370 gone, Modi said that focus will be on making it centre of
tourism globally.
“Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh can become the biggest tourist
destination in the world. Ladakh has the potential to become the
biggest center of spiritual tourism, adventure tourism and ecotourism,”
he said.
Solar Power
The Modi government has long been promoting solar power in India.
With Ladakh as a separate union territory, Modi said focus would also
be on making it a major centre for solar power generation.
“Now there will be proper use of its potential and new opportunities will
be created for development without discrimination,” said Modi.
Technology
Given the technology boost in the country, and the Modi government’s
digital boost, there were no surprises that PM Modi spoke about
enhancing digital communication in the area and called out to the tech
industries to set up businesses. “Public sector undertakings and large
private companies will also be encouraged to provide jobs,” said Modi.

19. Organic Products
Modi also spoke about organic farming in Jammu & Kashmir and
Ladakh.
He said, “Several herbal and organic products are scattered across
J&K and Ladakh. If they are identified and marketed in the global
market, then it will greatly benefit the people and farmers of these
regions. I urge the enterprises from all over India to come forward for
this.”
Bollywood
And of course, Bollywood has found a mention in almost every other
big speech under the BJP regime. Modi too spoke about Bollywood’s
contribution in Kashmir’s growth. He said that earlier a lot of films used
to be shot in Kashmir, however it went down as the political situation
changed. Now, he urged not just the Hindi, Telugu and Tamil film
industries to shoot movies in Kashmir, and provide local people with job
opportunities.