ISLAMABAD: After almost seven decades’ illegal occupation and brutality to suppress the indigenous movement of people of occupied Kashmir for their legitimate right to self-determination, India is now working on a nefarious plan to change demography of the valley by settling non-Kashmiris to turn Muslim majority into a minority there.

“Government of India led by right-wing extremist Narendra Modi is on fast track to implement the BJP-RSS agenda to turn the Muslim majority of the territory into minority and to erode the disputed nature of Jammu and Kashmir and its integration with mainland India,” revealed a report compiled by renowned researchers Altaf Hussain Wani and Parvez Ahmed Shah.

The report, published by Kashmir Institute of International Relations Islamabad, said Kashmiris’ sense of insecurity became acute when demands about the coercive demographic transformation of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) were made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swaym Sevak Singh (RSS).

On January 27, the RSS chief made a specific demand for demographic transformation of IHK and RSS magazine also pleaded for it, perceiving it the only solution to Kashmir problem.
Accordingly, the Indian and IOK governments made certain decisions and initiated some steps to archive the nefarious design.

The steps included manipulation of census report, attempt to abrogate article 370 of Indian Constitution that provides special status to Jammu Kashmir (already eroded), to abrogate article 35/A of Constitution of Jammu Kashmir, implementation of Securitization and Reconstruction of

Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act-2002, implementation of Goods and Services tax (GST), to create separate town ships for Hindu Pandits in Kashmir valley, give state subject status to west-Pakistan refugees, settle ex-Indian army personnel by creating

Sainik colonies, build shelters for the homeless on-state subjects in IOK, allot land to Indian Industrialists outside Industrial areas under a lease agreement for 99 years to give control of economy of the State in the hands of non-State Hindu fundamentalists besides making efforts to pass a bill, under which any institution showing J&K as not part of India will be punished that is the sheer violation of UN resolutions.

Before Indian occupation percentage of the Muslim population of IOK was 87 percent, which came down to 72 percent in 1952 Census. Successive census reports show the decline in Muslim population percentage in IOK, while the latest census showed 67 percent.

The report further revealed that creation of separate homeland for migrant pundits was another plan of the BJP government to change the demography of IOK.

Under the cover of separate townships in different parts of IOK, India intends to create religious disharmony and damage the unity, social ethos, and above all composite culture to prolong its illegal occupation.

“Another dishonest objective behind these separate colonies is to settle non-resident Kashmiris which will be the beginning of the huge plan of making Kashmir another Palestine,” it feared.

Moreover, creation of Sainik Colonies is another attempt of the Indian government to settle ex-army personnel in IOK, for which the State government had been asked to identify land for the colonies.

A senior leader of BJP recently stated “Settle 10 thousand ex-army personnel in IOK, give them arms and end the strife, and should be tasked to retrieve the properties of migrant pundits as this is the only way to settle the Kashmir issue. Around 173 kanals land at the old Air Field, District Budgam was identified and construction of Sainik colony is underway. Similarly 44 acres of land was identified in Jammu.

India, under its Urban Livelihood Mission. is planning to build shelters for homeless Indians in IOK. India has also adopted a new industrial policy to grab land, allowing ‘non-state subjects’ including Indian nationals who could not otherwise legally own land in Kashmir, can with the approval of the Kashmir government – lease land for industrial or information technology parks for a period of up to 90 years, outside the already established industrial estates there, the report concluded.