India’s Power Consolidation In Jammu And Kashmir

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, which was presented in Parliament by the Indian government on August 5, has come into force. It divides the India-Occupied Kashmir (IOK) into two union territories consisting of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). From October 31, J&K will be fully integrated into the Indian Union and India’s tricolor flag will be hoisted by the Governor of J&K in Srinagar to mark the final absorption of territories into India.

Unlike the days of October 27 and August 5 — which are remembered by the people of J&K as a symbol of Indian occupation — October 31 will be celebrated in India as the day when the special status of J&K formally ended. On October 31, the new Lieutenant Governors of J&K and Ladakh, Girish Chandra Murmu and Radha Krishna Mathur respectively, were to be sworn into office. The recently held local J&K local body elections were fully boycotted in the Valley where the voter turnout was negligent, but such dismal participation has not impacted the Indian state.

Since October 31 has been declared a historic day by New Delhi to transform the age-old dream of Hindu nationalists of annexing J&K in the Indian Union, the Modi regime is now focusing on implementing the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act by allowing Indian nationals to buy property, cast their vote and permanently settle in J&K. As an incentive to 450,000 government employees of J&K, the 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations of increasing salaries will be effective from October 31. Most importantly, under the Act, delimitation of electoral constituencies will also take place which will benefit the Hindu nationalist BJP. According to a report titled “J&K Delimitation Process to Start after October 31” published on August 23, 2019, in The Economic Times, “the delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir will start only after October 31… As per the norms, the J&K delimitation commission will be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge… The process will start after October 31 and it will be undertaken by the Election Commission of India.