Article 370 revoked is a humiliation for Kashmiris: Why gag us like this? Does BJP think Muslims should have no rights?

Article 370 has political importance — it is part of the agreement which was made with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This happened when the accession to the Indian union itself took place. So, it was like a treaty between two sovereign states which formed the basis of the merger.

If the terms of the treaty are not respected, then the accession itself comes under question.

It’s clearly a very sensitive political situation that, to my mind, is being dealt with utmost carelessness by the present government.

It is acting like a miscreant trying to fuel the fire of violence — as I see it, they called back Amarnath yatris on a false pretext that there was a terror threat. Many here think they basically lied to the pilgrims, religious devotees, and infringed upon their religious rights for nothing. Everything was under their control — this situation is not one of terrorism which wasn't in their hands.

Eid is now coming up and I see it, with the BJP’s track record of stoking communal tension, it is quite expected of them to do something like this. They have hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and Muslims and they are creating unending tension by playing with Article 370 now.

I don’t think that they do or even want to understand the historical and religious context of Article 370.

At this point, it is very difficult to say how the Kashmiris are going to react and what is going to happen.

But one thing is certain — the people of Jammu and Kashmir are being deeply alienated and humiliated. This is an insult to the people of Kashmir. It was the only state which willingly acceded to the Indian union. In the way mainstream leaders have been arrested now, all legitimate political voices have been drowned out. The reason why no one is able to control Kashmir is because from day zero, our leadership has been wiped out — we have been systematically suppressed. Starting with Sheikh Abdullah’s time, when there was a coup to overthrow his government, even the Governor right now says he doesn’t know what is happening in Kashmir.

This is the level of a lack of political agency we suffer.

All representatives, whether they are elected or ceremonial, have just been pushed to the corner and then, the central government says — there is a law and order problem. Of course there will be a law and order issue because the leaders who make negotiations on behalf of the people, they are being destroyed.

So, there is bound to be chaos.

To the nay-sayers out there, I want to point out that unlike what we're currently hearing, Article 370 was never associated with corruption in J&K. India itself is the most corrupt country, we have the distinction of not having anti-corruption laws which many other countries have, we don’t have a conflict of interest law, no whistleblower protection law and we have watered down the RTI Act recently as well.

Corruption has to do with the moral integrity of the leaders.

Not with complex historical legacies that have bound Kashmir to India in the first place.

The Kashmiri leaders now need to move fast — therefore, we will clearly consult the Supreme Court on this matter and we invite all other political leaders from different parties to join us in defending Article 370.

We’ll need to challenge this unlawful order that has been passed by the central government. They know that it is in poor legal standing — that is why they have suppressed every voice which comes from Kashmir. They have put mainstream leaders under house arrest because they know that the order which they have passed does not stand legally.

We do hope fervently that Kashmir gets normalised soon. In my view though, the Central government doesn’t care about Kashmir — it’s like a video game which they are using. They are simply pressing remote control buttons to entertain their electorate.

Of course people are pointing out that Article 370, like all parts of history, can be changed. Yes, history changes and times evolve — but Article 370 is not like some evil practice like untouchability. It’s a legal provision which provided more federalism — if you go to Karnataka, there is something called Article 370-J which has been recently passed. It gives reservations to locals who are from north Karnataka when it comes to jobs.

Just because J&K is a Muslim-majority state, I feel the approach of BJP is that Muslims don’t have any rights.

There are such provisions in Himachal Pradesh and in many tribal areas. They are simply progressive provisions meant to protect people who are marginalised.

This order will now create a situation where the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be subjected to more hostility from the Indian side. Currently, the way Kashmiris are being mocked, abused, violent slogans are being leveled against us, I think this will create much more of a hostile situation for us.

The way it has been removed is also so painful — there is no elected government, all communication has been shut down. They had to gag an entire population to do this. It’s a very humiliating manner in which it has been done — clearly, the purpose is not to include Kashmiris and give them more space. They seem to want to humiliate and harass them, just like it happened after Pulwama.

People in Kashmir are not being allowed to raise their voice — Indian civil society right now has a huge responsibility of raising a voice for Kashmiris. It’s very encouraging that there were protests in Bengaluru and Delhi and there is going to be an all-India protest on Wednesday.

What we need most right now is building domestic pressure. The people of India need to stand by their Kashmiri brothers and sisters.

(As told to: Rohit E David)

Also read: Ladakh is finally free after Article 370: Kashmir humiliated us and snatched our funds. We never wanted to be with them