Abstract
The ill-fated day of August 5, 2019, saw the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoking Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which had guaranteed a special status to the state of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Along with Article 370, Article 35A was also abrogated which gave powers to the legislature of IIOJK to decide who are the state subjects and thus entitled to certain privileges like jobs, scholarship, aid and right to own property. Though the decision of the BJP Government did not come as a surprise given the fact that since 2014, Prime Minister Modi and his rightwing Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had repeatedly expressed their desire of revoking both the Articles. This pledge was reiterated in the party’s election manifesto of 2019. However, what was appalling was the tactics that the BJP Government employed to impose its will on the people of IIOJK. Particularly by abrogating Article 35A, the government of India sought to pave the way to bring about demographic change in the occupied territory and turn the Muslim majority into a minority in their own land. This demographic engineering is intended to dilute the popular sentiment and demand of the Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination. For this purpose, a number of schemes have been under the consideration of the current Indian government including granting the state subject’s status to the West Pakistan refugees, building Sainik colonies and settling Hindu pandits in gated colonies. Pakistan, being a party to the conflict has been expressing serious concerns over this blatant violation of International law and bilateral agreements. It expects the international community, to play its due role in resolving the conflict according to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
