Four Years After Removal Of Art 370: How Is The Actual Situation In Kashmir?

Zaheer Hussain
August 6, 2023
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Removal Of Art 370: Four years after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 on August 5, 2019, the restoration of peace and development activities taking place stands out as its most significant achievement. It Is Time, After More Than Three Decades, For Public And Social Life In The Former State, In General, And The Valley In Particular, To Return To Normalcy.

Four Years After Removal Of Art 370

Removal Of Art 370: Why In The News?

Four Years After The Centre Abrogated Special Status Of Jammu And Kashmir Under Article 370 On August 5, 2019, Restoration Of Peace And Developmental Activities Taking Peace, Compared To The Past, Stands Out As Its Most Significant Achievements.
It Is After More Than Three Decades, Time That Public And Social Life In The Erstwhile State, In General, And The Valley In Particular, Are Back To Normal Routine Without Disruption.

Removal Of Art 370: What Do We Know?

While 124 Civilians Were Killed At The Hands Of Police And Security Forces During Protests And Stone-pelting Incidents From 5-08-2016 To 5-08-2019, Not A Single Such Incident Was Reported In The Last Four Years, Official Figures Reveal.
August 5, 2019, Momentous Decision Also Marked A Drastic Decline In Terror Activities And Nepotism In The Valley. Considerable Decline In Both Recruitment Of Locals Into Militancy And Killing Of Terrorists In 2023 Compared To Previous Years Is Another Outcome Of The Abrogation Of Article 370.
While 35 Militants Were Killed In Various Operations By The Security Forces From January 1 To August 5 This Year, The Number Was Over 120 In The Same Period Last Year. In 2022, 186 Militants, Including 56 Foreigners, Were Killed By The Security Forces.
According To Official Data, Several Infiltration Attempts Have Been Foiled This Year And Not More Than 12 Locals Have Joined Militancy Till July End. It Has Brought Down The Number Of Active Militants To Double Digits.

Removal Of Art 370: Changes Post Article 370 Abrogation

One Of The Best Things That Happened In Kashmir After The Abrogation Of Article 370 Sections Is The Restoration Of Administrative Control.
Encouraged And Assured By The Safe Environment In J&K, Investment Projects Worth Nearly Rs 25,000 Crore Are Under Execution In The UT While Proposals To The Tune Of Over Rs 80,000 Crore Are Under Process.
Since Independence, J & K Had Received Private Investments To The Tune Of Rs 14,000 Crore Only. However, After The Abrogation Of Article 370 And the Introduction Of the New Industrial Development Scheme, The UT Has Received Investment Proposals Worth Rs 81,122 Crore In The Last Two Years.
Nearly 2250 Acres Of Land, As Against A Total of 4877 Acres Sought For Setting Up Key Units, Has Already Been Allotted Across Both Jammu And Kashmir Divisions.
With An Increasing Footfall Of Domestic And Foreign Visitors, Tourism In J & K Is Scaling New Heights, Making The Union Territory (UT) One Of The Top Destinations In The Country.
Last Year The UT Received 1.88 Crore Tourists, A High Enough Number For Any Region, But The Administration Expects That The Arrivals Will Breach The Two Crore-mark This Year.
Before The Abrogation Of Article 370, Not Only Businesses, But The Education Sector In Kashmir Suffered Immensely Due To Frequent Strike Calls, Stone Pelting Incidents And Violence In Kashmir.
Mainstream Parties, Notably The National Conference (NC) And The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Remain Bereft Of A Viable Political Narrative As Their Old Accession-Centric Narrative Got Washed Out In The Fallout Of Abrogation Of The State’s Special Constitutional Status.

Removal Of Art 370: The Other Side Of The Coin

The Forum For Human Rights In Jammu And Kashmir, An Independent Body Of Concerned Citizens, Released Its Fourth Annual Report Titled “Five Years Without An Elected Administration: Human Rights In Jammu And Kashmir, August 2022 – July 2023”.
The Report Has Found That While There Has Been Improvement On Some Parameters, Human Rights Violations Continue On Most. While The Number Of Lives Lost Due To Armed Attacks And Counter-Insurgency Operations Was Lower Than In The Previous Year, The Number Of Police Personnel Who Died, Including Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF), Continues To Be High.
71 CRPF Troops Were Killed In The Four Years Between 2019-2022, Twice As Many As In The Previous Four Years, 2014-2018, When 35 Died. By comparison, In The Four Years Between 2012-2015, Which Can Be Categorised As An Uneasy Interregnum Between The Post-peace Process Years And The Rise Of Conflict In The BJP-PDP Coalition, 27 CRPF Troops Were Killed.
The Report Has Also Drawn Attention To The Resurgence Of Militancy In Jammu After Decades Of Peace. The 2022 Delimitation Of Fresh Legislative Constituencies, Adding Poonch And Rajouri To Kashmir’s Anantnag, May Have Added To The Alienation That These Muslim-majority Areas Face With The Sharpening Of Communal Divides In Jammu.
The Report Added That There Has Been No Improvement In Gross Violations Of The Freedom Of Expression And Movement, Especially The Rights Of The Media, And Pointed To The Arrests Under The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) And The Public Safety Act (PSA).
Along With Delhi, Jammu And Kashmir Has The Highest Rate Of Undertrials As A Proportion Of Its Prison Population At 91%, Against The National Average Of 76%, It Said. The Region’s Prisons Can House A Total Of 3,629 Inmates, But They Lodged 5,300 As Of June 2023, It Added.
The Report Said That At 23.1% In March 2023, Unemployment Was Almost Three Times The National Average Of 7.8%. It Added That While A Record Year Of Tourism In 2022 Has Boosted The Economy, It Still Lags Behind The National Average On Per Capita Income And Rates Of Growth.
The Main Demand Of The Report Is To Highlight The Need For Holding Assembly Elections In Jammu And Kashmir As Well As A Legislative Assembly In Ladakh. It Has Been Nine Years Since The Last Legislative Election In Jammu And Kashmir.
The Union Administration Accepted The Delimitation Commission’s Report A Year Ago And It Is Eight Months Since Fresh Electoral Rolls Were Prepared. All The Preparations For An Election Have Thus Been Completed, But The Election Commission Has Yet To Announce Dates For It.
The Report Has Also Recommended The Release Of All Political Prisoners Who Were Taken Into Detention On Or After August 4, 2019, Repeal Of The PSA And Other Preventive Detention Legislation.
It Has Also Recommended The Local Communities Be Involved In Facilitating The Return Of Kashmiri Pandits, Reinstating All The Former State’s Statutory Oversight Bodies, Especially Those Monitoring Human Rights.

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