Kashmir: Article 370 and the Systemic Burning of a Constructed Utopia In August 2019, India scrapped Article 370 from the Indian Constitution, repealing an amendment that was put in place in 1957, granting a special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. This was granted because the Muslim majority population of Kashmir did not want to be a part of India after India-Pakistan partition. India won them over by incorporating Article 370 as a promise of partial autonomy.73 In 2019, India, under the rule of Narendra Modi, repealed this article and Kashmir was put under a communications and travel lockdown. What was already a contested and highly militarized area, saw more military being deployed, leading to human rights abuses reaching new heights. This lockdown lasted 9 months, with no internet services available even after those 9 months.74 This action comes after an exponential rise in nationalistic tendencies since the 2014 elections.
A large part of the Indian population, in the face of these atrocities chooses to commend Prime Minister Modi on taking this step. They bring up Kashmiri economy, Kashmiri businesses “thriving” under the Indian law and the legality of the Article 370 at its inception. What they never mention are Kashmiri lives. Intricate details of legality and consequent attachments with morality are inspected subjectively from a privileged point of view. The needs of them are discussed without listening to them. The mindless fanatic following of “laws” in order to justify nationalistic tendencies is rooted in the virtuousness of obedience. Privilege is validated when the louder, nationalist voices resonate with deep-rooted beliefs in the preservation of power, and the dehumanization of the other is an issue separated from the self. By silencing voices in Kashmir, India presribed those lives a lower value and made themselves louder. This encouraged patriarchal systems of power to create an army of mindless, shouting bodies, who believe they are doing the right thing.
Not questioning the implications of the opinions of those that hold power leads to imaginations of utopias–utopias that will be built on the backs of those who could never benefit from it. Military Occupation, Kashmir Image Source: Incendiarynews.com 73. “Kashmir Special Status Explained: What Are Articles 370 and 35A?,” India News | Al Jazeera (Al Jazeera, August 5, 2019), https://www. aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/kashmir-special-status-explained-articles-370-35a-190805054643431.html. 74. Ahmer Khan and Billy Perrigo, “What’s Happening in Kashmir During Coronavirus Lockdown,” Time (Time, May 6, 2020), https://time. com/5832256/kashmir-lockdown-coronavirus/.
