On Friday, August 2, 2024, Pakistan renewed its call for international intervention in the Kashmir issue during a diplomatic briefing at the Foreign Office in Islamabad. Foreign Secretary, Syrus Sajjad Qazi, urged the global community to pressure India into restoring the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, ending what Pakistan describes as repression in the region, and creating conditions to resolve the long-standing dispute over India’s Kashmir policy that has been a source of regional instability since 1947
Qazi detailed the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir, discussing the impact of India’s Kashmir policy since August 5, 2019. On that date, the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, revoked Articles 370 and 35A of its constitution. This move effectively ended the semi-autonomous status that Jammu and Kashmir had held for seven decades.
Article 370, introduced in 1949, had granted Jammu and Kashmir significant autonomy, including its own constitution and decision-making rights in all matters except finance, defense, foreign affairs, and communications. The region even had its own flag. Article 35A, added in 1954, allowed the local legislature to define permanent residents and restricted outsiders from settling, buying land, holding local government jobs, or receiving education scholarships in the region.
The revocation has had far-reaching consequences. According to data from the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, between August 5, 2019, and July 31, 2023, there were 2,648 cordon and search operations in the region. The same period saw 432 gunfights and 660 killings. Furthermore, a report by the Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir noted that over 5,000 people were detained in the months following August 2019.
As the fifth anniversary of this controversial move approaches, Pakistan continues to condemn it as “illegal and unilateral.” The country argues that this action over India’s Kashmir policy has further marginalized the people of Kashmir, leaving them disempowered in their own region. Pakistan also contends that the move aims to alter the demographic composition of the territory, a claim based on new domicile laws introduced by India in 2020 which made it easier for non-Kashmiris to obtain permanent residency certificates.
The Kashmir dispute remains a critical issue in South Asian geopolitics, having led to multiple wars between India and Pakistan. According to UN data, the conflict has resulted in over 50,000 deaths since 1989. Despite a ceasefire agreement in 2003, tensions remain high, with both countries maintaining a significant military presence along the Line of Control.
