Indian Premier Nahendra Modi defended his ongoing crackdown on Kashmir,
and his Monday move to revise the constitution to eliminate Kashmir’s
autonomy, saying that all the autonomy ever accomplished was “terrorism and separatism,” and that he believes this will “free” the region.
Muslim-majority Kashmir was, until Monday, guaranteed full autonomy in
everything but military and foreign policy. The legal change will allow
Hindu settlers to move into the region en masse, and hold state
government jobs.
Modi accused Pakistan of using Kashmiri autonomy as a weapon against
India, and said locals could expect that infrastructure projects in
Kashmir will be greatly expedited by not being autonomous.
Pakistan has been greatly critical of the Kashmir crackdown, and has
promised to take the matter to the UN Security Council. It is expected
that there will also be legal challenges within India on the
constitution change, though a communications blackout has much of
Kashmir unaware what is happening at this point.
Modi: Kashmir Autonomy Fed ‘Terrorism and Separatism’
Says crackdown would lead to more infrastructure projects
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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