Modi's 'settler' masterplan for Indian Kashmir
29 August, 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is changing Indian Kashmir's residency laws for the very first time since 1947, in a bid to snuff out any challenge to the disputed territory owned by India.
Drawing comparisons with Israel's "settler" tactics in the Palestinian Territories, Modi's Hindu nationalist government aims to improve the demographic cosmetic and identity of the Muslim-majority region, critics say.
AFP looks at the background, what the brand new rules are and their implications for the area's 14 million population.
WHAT HAS MODI DONE IN KASHMIR SO FAR?
The Himalayan former princely state has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947.
In the Indian-administered part a conflict between separatist rebels and government forces has killed thousands since 1989, mostly civilians.
More than 65 % of the population is Muslim. In the Kashmir Valley, the main centre of the rebellion, it really is close to 100 %.
On Aug 5, 2019 Modi's government revoked articles in the Indian constitution that guaranteed Kashmir's partial autonomy and other rights including its flag and constitution.
An enormous accompanying security procedure saw thousands of extra troops - increasing 500,000 already there - enforce a siege-like curfew. Thousands were arrested and telecommunications were cut for months.
Jammu & Kashmir state was demoted to a union territory governed directly from New Delhi, as the Ladakh region was carved out right into a separate administrative area.
Creating such new "facts on the floor" in Kashmir has long been advocated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the hardline Hindu parent organisation to Modi's BJP party.
The move sent an additional shudder through India's 200-million Muslim minority and defenders of its secular traditions, who fear Modi really wants to create a Hindu nation - something he denies.
"What I see unfolding is a Hindu settler colonial project in the making," Mona Bhan, associate professor of anthropology at Syracuse University who has long researched Kashmir, told AFP.
WHAT HAPPENED TO KASHMIR'S SPECIAL RULES?
Modi's government tore up Kashmir's special residence rules dating back to 1927 which had ensured only permanent residents could own land and property, secure government jobs and university places and vote in local elections.
Now a raft of different categories of folks from any place in India can apply for domicile certificates, providing them with access to all of the above.
These include those residing in Kashmir for 15 years, who include around 28,000 refugees who fled Pakistan and as many as 1.75 million migrant labourers - most of whom are Hindus.
In addition, civil servants who have worked in Kashmir for seven years and their children, or students who've taken certain exams, also qualify for domicile status.
The changes are "the most drastic imposed since 1947," Siddiq Wahid, a historian and political analyst, told AFP. "It had been done with the intent to open the gates to demographic flooding."
WHAT DO LOCALS HAVE TO DO?
Locals too will have to apply for the brand new "domicile certificates" so that you can qualify for long lasting resident rights.
To get this, they must produce their Permanent Resident Certificates (PRC), cherished documents valid since 1927, which then become worthless.
Talking with AFP on condition of anonymity, an engineering graduate said young Kashmiris were in place being forced to provide their political loyalty to India in trade for a livelihood.
"They say, you will want job, OK, get the domicile document first," he said.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he provides speech throughout a ceremony to celebrate India's 74th Independence Day. (AFP/Prakash SINGH)
IS ANYBODY HAPPY?
Some individuals. Bahadur Lal Prajapati, born in Indian Kashmir to Hindu refugees who fled Pakistan during its first war with India over Kashmir seven decades ago, is finally an official resident and has "never been so happy".
"We got the right to live in this part of India as citizens after 72 years of struggle," Prajapati, 55, told AFP from his home in Jammu, the Hindu-dominated district of the spot.
Among the first people to receive the new domicile certificate was Navin Kumar Choudhary, a high bureaucrat from the Indian state of Bihar who worked in Kashmir for quite some time.
Photos on social media of Choudhary proudly holding the certificate sparked huge anger among Kashmiris but delight among Modi's supporters.
WHAT GOES ON IF PEOPLE COMPLAIN?
Some 430,000 new domicile certificates have been issued - regardless of the coronavirus pandemic. It really is unclear how many of these are to people from outside and just how many to locals.
Many locals are refusing to swap their old documents, despite the fact that this makes life harder. Some do it in secret for concern with censure from their neighbours.
Wary of being labelled "anti-national" by the authorities many Kashmiris are also scared to speak out openly. Some are deleting their Twitter accounts.
"It's a travesty that I must contend with outsiders for citizenship rights in my homeland," said students - who also wished also to stay anonymous out of fear of issues with the authorities.
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