With the decision taken by the Indian Supreme Court, In­dia has verily demonstrated its true spirit. The abrogation of Arti­cle 370 is seen as a dehumanizing practice led by them. It is an effec­tive attempt to turn the Kashmiris into a minority in their own ances­tral land. Though Kashmir is rec­ognised as a disputed territory be­tween Pakistan and India on the global front, unethical decisions like this one persist in BJP-Modi’s government. Pakistan has not ac­cepted this decision and will dip­lomatically seek justice for the Kashmiris at the UN. All in all, the Indian top Court’s decision is noth­ing more than a ‘political agenda,’ which has intense repercussions on the lives of the Kashmiris and on Kashmir itself.

What is Article 370?: Article 370 of the Constitution of India was in­serted in 1949 as a ‘temporary pro­vision’. Implementing this article at that time was an amicable deci­sion. However, its status as a tem­porary provision made Pakistanis and Kashmiris unhappy. It had key provisions as follows:

Autonomy: With Article 370, Kashmir had autonomy. It could maintain its own constitution, flag, and even its own parliament. The special autonomy was applicable except in matters of defence, com­munication, and internal affairs—a win-win situation for Kashmir.

Special Status: The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was gov­erned by a separate set of laws. However, no Indian was allowed to buy land there or be a perma­nent resident.

Abrogation of Article 370 and its Repercussions: In 2019, with the decision of the apex court of India, India revoked Article 370 from its constitution. However, it was sort of a ‘secret mission’ to abrogate the article. None of the Kashmiris or Kashmiri political leaders were asked their views on that decision. At the time of revoking Article 370, the internet was shut down, and al­most 10,000 troops were sent to Kashmir just to instil terror and fear among them. This is how Ar­ticle 370 was revoked in 2019. Moreover, India was well aware of its repercussions, and that is why they revoked the article. It was, no doubt, a political agenda led by the BJP government. The repercus­sions are as follows:

One of the true motives of In­dia behind its revocation was turn­ing the Kashmiris into a minority in their ancestral land. As of now, Indi­ans are allowed to buy land in Kash­mir and settle there permanently.

Apart from this, after the abroga­tion of Article 370, India has bifur­cated Kashmir. Now, Ladakh is no longer part of Kashmir. For a na­tion, its land, language, and culture are everything. This decision of In­dia’s apex court is nothing but vio­lent. These repercussions and, ma­jorly, the change in Kashmir’s map, is like pouring salt on the wounds of the Kashmiris who are already bearing the brunt of the brutal forces of India.

The decision of the Indian Su­preme Court regarding the abroga­tion of Article 370 is not approved by the Kashmiris or Pakistan. Un­equivocally, Pakistan has always ad­vocated for the rights of the Kash­miris (illegally occupied by India) in the charter of the UN. Addition­ally, this historic decision taken by the Indian apex court has further marginalised the Kashmiris and produced a sense of insecurity by allowing Indians the right to pur­chase land in Kashmir. Therefore, this decision, despite the ground realities, was put forth to oppress the Kashmiris. In this sense, there is not much difference between Kashmir and Palestine. Thus, Pak­istan, as always, must seek justice for them, and international organi­zations must show keen interest in solving this everlasting dispute.

SAHIL AHMED DERO,

Larkana.