What's going on in Kashmir? | Start Here

let's talk about kashmir the indie-administered part in particular it's been under a security and communications lockdown ever since india scrapped its autonomy in 2019. but what is going on on the ground and why is india administered kashmir such a hot spot [Music] let's start with the big picture kashmir is a divided region controlled by three nuclear powers china india and pakistan but on this episode we're going to focus on the part that india controls the vast 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 the green rolling hills around it are rich in agriculture the indus river an important water system in south asia runs right through it and it's one of the most disputed regions in the world so why is that here's a very quick version of a long and also very debated story the british government's final decision as to how power was to be transferred from british to indian hands after the british left the indian subcontinent in 1947 it was partitioned to create two new nations hindu majority india and muslim majority pakistan several princely states could choose which country to join 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 according to some historical accounts the hindu ruler of kashmir at the time a man named hari singh was actually considering independence but ended up exceeding the muslim majority region to india in 1947 india and pakistan went to war over kashmir the united nations took up the issue and classified jammu and kashmir as indian administered so the terminology of it administered really just means that it's uh temporal it was 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 major international story for decades [Music] everyone tries to portray kashmir as if it began in 1947 as a dispute between pakistan and india which is very reductive way of looking at kashmir you also have a people who are who are demanding an independent sovereign state now the people of kashmir did get some autonomy in 1949 and that was because of 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 india would have control over kashmir's foreign affairs defense and communications but in 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 shut down 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 could not be implemented because of the restrictions under article 370. so this was actually a provision which was harming the development of kashmir and that's why it has 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 way 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 join 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 needs to be there one of the first things 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 of india's entire active military the presence is there for defending the territorial integrity of india because of hostile pakistan it's a normal thing so when there is tension with china there are security forces which are deployed in northeast so why is it only that it is intimidating in kashmir because there has been a systematic extremism which has been patient rise by a few people even by the indian government's own admissions at any given point there's really only two to three hundred militants or people who have picked up arms in kashmir and thus it kind of really lends itself to the idea that the army is not there to fight the militants the army is there to occupy the people kashmiri activists say india's use of force has been excessive one example in a recent united nations report found that out of 160 civilians killed in 2018 29 people died and shelling and firing along the line 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 this cycle of violence disputes and very often big protests which sometimes stretch on for months the communal passions are burning hotter here than they have in decades grief has become a way of life the worst unrest in the cashmere valley for six years daily life is very difficult people don't go to school many weeks and months of the year businesses remain closed for a good part of the year as well because of curfews or strikes meanwhile the whole of indian-administered kashmir has formally been split into two indian union territories one is jammu and kashmir the other is ladakh it means they're now directly governed by new delhi and any form of autonomy is officially gone although kashmiris say that's sort of been the case for a while in many ways over the past few decades that autonomy has been completely eroded but what remained was something else called article 35a which basically gave kashmiris 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 actually article 35a discriminated against indian citizens living in the region but many kashmiris feel that land was all they really had and fear that any aspirations of having that delayed u.n vote or their own state one day are gone too kashmiris are facing a fear of settler colonialism they are facing a concerted fair that they might be dispossessed the people who had any hopes that india would at some point respect kashmiri aspirations even they've been completely exacerbated by this step but that doesn't mean the dispute is over and few kashmiris will tell you they feel at peace there is so much more to what's going on in kashmir than what we were able to squeeze into a few minutes just like the region every detail of the story is hugely disputed and we just gave you some basics so dig around read indian pakistani and kashmiri sources to get the full picture

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 1,027,783

Keywords: al jazeera live, al jazeera english, al jazeera, aljazeera, kashmir conflict, indian occupied kashmir, start here al jazeera, india kashmir issue, pakistan india kashmir, kashmir news, occupation of kashmir, kashmir occupation, india violation kashmir, article 370, article 370 revoked, narendra modi, kashmir explained, kashmir start here, kashmir autonomy

Id: 9nNwwX2s1IM

Length: 8min 48sec (528 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 15 2019