Changing The Status Of Jammu And Kashmir Will Benefit All Of India ft.com

The Indian parliament passed legislation last month changing the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, modifying provisions that have been an obstacle to economic development and promoted a sense of separatism.

Critics have highlighted these step as a departure from recent history, and precautionary measures intended to facilitate the transition have also become a subject of debate. These issues are best addressed by laying out the Indian government’s reasons for the new approach.

The anachronistic provision that governed Kashmir — Article 370 — was explicitly acknowledged by the Indian constitution as “temporary”. By any standards, 70 years is a long definition of that term. The reason why it is being changed now lies in why the situation lasted so long. The earlier provision created a cosy arrangement of local ownerships that served the state’s political elite well. But it denied economic opportunities and social gains for the masses. The resulting separatist sentiments in some quarters were then exploited by neighboring Pakistan to conduct cross-border terrorism.