Past and present in Kashmir
9:23 AM
and why there is since lockdown in 2019 .
We tell you about Kashmir .Kashmir is a divided region controlled by three nuclear powers China, India and Pakistan but on this episode we're getting to specialise in the part that india controls the overwhelming majority of the nearly 13 million residents here are muslim though hindus buddhists and sikhs live here too it's also naturally stunning kashmir's gorez valley and therefore.
the green rolling hills around it are rich in agriculture the Indus a crucial water system in south asia runs right through it and it's one among the foremost disputed regions within the world so why is that here's a really quick version of an extended and also very debated story British government's final judgment as to how power was to be transferred from british to indian hands.
after British left the Indian subcontinent in 1947 it had been partitioned to create two new nations hindu majority india and muslim majority pakistan several princely states could choose which country to hitch and kashmir was one of them and kashmir was a muslim state the ruler was a hindu by the logic of partition it should have gone to pakistan .
but it didn't consistent with some historical accounts the hindu ruler of kashmir at the time a person named hari singh was actually considering independence but ended up exceeding the muslim majority region to india in 1947 india and pakistan visited war over Kashmir.
the United Nations took up the difficulty and classified jammu and kashmir as indian administered therefore the terminology of it administered really just means that it's uh temporal it had been the u.n that then kind of uh passed a resolution on kashmir .
which was basically calling for self-determination or plebiscite to happen in kashmir that vote on self-determination in kashmir never happened and india and pakistan ended up fighting two more wars over india administered kashmir that conflict has been a serious international story for many years .
everyone tries to portray kashmir as if it began in 1947 as a dispute between pakistan and india which is extremely reductive way of looking at kashmir you furthermore may have nation .
who are who are demanding an independent sovereign state now the people of kashmir did get some autonomy in 1949 and that was due to article 370 in the indian constitution it gave the region of jammu and kashmir a special status meaning it could have its own prime minister its own flag its own constitution its own legislative assembly i.
ndia would have control over kashmir's foreign affairs defense and communications but within the summer of 2019 that autonomy was revoked india's lawmakers suddenly scrapped article 370. a sudden and momentous decision india's government says it's revoking special privileges granted to indian administered kashmir india pack up communication no internet ,no phones and security measures like curfews were imposed and local activists say thousands of people including activists and even pro-india politicians were reportedly rounded up so why did the indian government revoke article 370 a lot of welfare schemes couldn't be implemented due to the restrictions under article 370.
so this was actually a provision which was harming the development of kashmir and that's why it's been scrapped in fact prime minister narendra modi had made a campaign promise to strip kashmir of its special status when he ran for re-election in early 2019.
he explained the move this manner so what's modi talking about there let's start with separatism remember we mentioned kashmiris have long wanted their own state well over time separatist groups entered local and national politics in kashmir to challenge pro-india political parties and their supporters then in the 80s armed groups were formed some say they're fighting for independence others want kashmir to hitch pakistan india describes these groups as terrorists after many attacks on indian forces and civilians in 1989 hindu residents known as kashmiri pandits were being targeted hundreds were killed and tens of thousands left Kashmir.
today a separatist armed uprising still exists in india administered kashmir and india accuses pakistan of directly supporting it it's one reason why New Delhi says its military must be there one of the primary belongings you do notice in india administered kashmir is indian soldiers ,
they're everywhere around 250 000 of them were here in 2004 but today it's thought there are as many as 700 000 that's nearly half india's entire active military the presence is there for defending the territorial integrity of india due to hostile pakistan it's a normal thing so when there's tension with china there are security forces which are deployed in northeast so why is it only that it's intimidating in kashmir because there has been a scientific extremism, which has been patient rise by a couple of people even by the indian government's own admissions at any given point there's really only two to 3 hundred militants or people that have picked up arms in kashmir and thus it quite really lends itself to the thought that the army isn't there to fight the militants.
the military is there to occupy the people kashmiri activists say india's use of force has been excessive one example during a recent United Nations report found that out of 160 civilians killed in 2018 ,29 people died and shelling and firing along the road of control with pakistan .
43 were killed by members of armed groups and 71 people were allegedly killed by indian security forces so what you've seen over the years in kashmir is that this cycle of violence disputes and really often big protests which sometimes stretch on for months the communal passions are burning hotter here than they need in decades grief has become how of life the worst unrest within the cashmere valley for six years.
daily life is extremely difficult people don't attend school many weeks and months of the year businesses remain closed for an honest part of the year also because of curfews or strikes meanwhile the whole of Indiana administered Kashmir has formally been split into two indian union territories one is jammu and kashmir the opposite is ladakh it means they're now directly governed by New Delhi and any sort of autonomy is officially gone .
although Kashmiri's say that's kind of been the case for a short time in some ways over the past few decades that autonomy has been completely eroded but what remained was something else called article 35a which basically gave Kashmiri's their own rights to their land which meant that only state subjects of jammu and kashmir could buy and sell property in Kashmir.
now india's argument has been that really article 35a discriminated against indian citizens living within the region but many kashmiris feel that land was all they really had and fear that any aspirations of getting that delayed u.n vote or their own state one day are gone too Kashmiri's face a fear of settler colonialism they are facing a concerted fair that they might be dispossessed the people that had any hopes that india would at some point respect kashmiri aspirations .
even they have been completely exacerbated by this step but that doesn't mean the dispute is over and few kashmiris will tell you they feel asleep there is such a lot more .
We should think about it what Kashmiri's want , now there is some economic activity done , locan investment is not enough for any state ,We wish now Kashmir grow.