Kashmir unrest grows as India defends steps

People at an electronics store in Jammu, India, watch a national address Thursday evening by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “A new era has begun” with the revoking of Kashmir’s autonomy, Modi proclaimed.
People at an electronics store in Jammu, India, watch a national address Thursday evening by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “A new era has begun” with the revoking of Kashmir’s autonomy, Modi proclaimed.

NEW DELHI -- India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, addressed the nation Thursday night for the first time about his government's unilateral decision to revoke Kashmir's autonomy, speaking against a backdrop of rising protests, mass arrests and escalating tensions with Pakistan.

Modi defended the action, arguing that it would make the restive territory more secure.

"A new era has begun," he said.

But in Kashmir, a disputed territory between India and Pakistan, protests were exploding as Indian security forces, which had already cut off Internet service, mobile phone calls and even landlines, clamped down harder.

More than 500 people were detained in nighttime raids across Kashmir and taken to makeshift detention centers, rights activists said. In several areas, Kashmiris pelted security officers with stones, and the officers fired back, with reports that some demonstrators had been killed.

Modi, who seldom makes national addresses, made no mention of the protests. He said that revoking the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, and turning it into a federally controlled territory would bring a cleaner, less corrupt government, more security and a stronger local economy.

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Modi said the "mainstreaming" of the Kashmiri people with the rest of the nation would expedite development and create new jobs with investment from public and private companies.

He accused neighboring Pakistan of using the past arrangement "as a weapon to incite people of the region against India."

Modi added: "This heaven on earth, our Jammu and Kashmir, will once again reach new heights of development and attract the whole world toward it. Ease of living will increase for our citizens. Citizens will receive all the benefits they deserve without any obstacles or challenges."

Modi's government announced Monday that it was eliminating the special status granted to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes the tense Kashmir valley. The move ratcheted up friction with Pakistan instantly.

Pakistan, which claims part of Kashmir and has already fought two major wars with India over it, responded Wednesday by halting trade with India and expelling the Indian ambassador.

On Thursday, it followed that up by shutting down a cross-border train, the Samjhauta Express, which has been running for more than 40 years but is often suspended when relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors turn icy.

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the Pakistani minister responsible for railroads, said he expected tensions to remain high for at least a year.

"There can even be war," he said. "I am not saying that we want war, but we should be prepared for it."

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Faisal, said authorities were considering a proposal to approach the International Court of Justice over India's action. He condemned the imposition of communications blackout and security clampdown, saying "Kashmir has been converted into the world's biggest jail" by India by forcing people to stay home.

"They are taking such actions in a panic," he said. "They have touched something they don't know how to get out of."

Faisal said even the Indian opposition and media outlets were against the moves in Kashmir.

He said Pakistan had never shut doors for talks with India in the past but India never positively responded to such offers from Islamabad. "Only they can say what they want now," he said.

The government in Islamabad also said it would give diplomatic, political and moral support to people living in Kashmir and their "right of self-determination." It also said it would ask the U.N. to pressure India to reverse its decision.

LEGAL CHALLENGE

Critics have pinned their hopes on the Indian Supreme Court, which has emerged in recent years as the main counterweight to Modi and Hindu nationalism, and as a defender of Indian secularism. Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which was incorporated more than 50 years ago and revoked by the Modi administration Monday, had guaranteed Kashmir a fair degree of autonomy from the central government and allowed it to pass its own laws on land ownership and criminal activity.

The article says that any changes to Kashmir's status must be made in consultation with the region's Constituent Assembly. Though that assembly disbanded in the 1950s, not long after the article was passed, several legal scholars said the clear spirit of the law was to allow Kashmiris a say in how they were governed.

A legal challenge has already been filed in front of the Supreme Court by one veteran lawyer, M.L. Sharma, who called the government's shutdown of Kashmir "not only undemocratic but cruel."

In an interview, Sharma said Article 370 was enacted to protect and enforce Kashmir's original agreement of entry into India.

In 1947, the last maharajah of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir signed a treaty called the Instrument of Accession that made it clear that Kashmir would join India only with a guarantee of autonomy.

Sharma argued that dismantling Article 370 violated this treaty and meant Kashmir was now independent -- again.

He expects the Supreme Court to hear his petition next week; it will probably not be the only one.

On Thursday, Tehseen Poonawalla, a political commentator, filed a separate petition saying the government had violated the constitutional rights of people in Kashmir by imposing a curfew, making arbitrary arrests and restricting almost all communication.

But such arguments have yet to gain widespread support, in India or internationally. Western countries have been careful about criticizing India.

The United States and others are hoping to turn India into a close ally to help check China's rising influence. The U.S. State Department has not addressed the legality of the move.

And while Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., who both serve on foreign affairs committees, urged India on Wednesday to protect "equal rights," their statement stopped short of condemning India's actions.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights took one of the strongest positions.

"We are deeply concerned that the latest restrictions in Indian-administered Kashmir will exacerbate the human-rights situation," said Rupert Colville, a U.N. spokesman.

"The fact that hardly any information at all is currently coming out from Indian-administered Kashmir is of great concern in itself."

Information for this article was contributed by Jeffrey Gettleman, Kai Schultz, Suhasini Raj and Hari Kumar of The New York Times; and by Ashok Sharma and Munir Ahmed of The Associated Press.

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AP/PRABHJOT GILL

Passengers stand with their luggage Thursday in the border town of Attari in India’s Punjab state after Pakistan halted the cross-border Samjhauta Express to retaliate against India.

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AP/SHEIKH SAALIQ

Traditional shikara gondolas sit idle Thursday at Dal Lake in Srinagar in India-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan has halted trade with India over its decision to revoke Kashmir’s autonomy.

A Section on 08/09/2019

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