Indo-Pak Relations After Abrogation Of Article 370
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
Apart from most other things that will change in Jammu & Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370, the biggest change will be that with the state now integrated into the nation, with all special powers of the J&K assembly and its politicians gone and with the territory now well and truly Indian, India can treat any attempt by Pakistan to foment trouble in the state, even by waging a proxy war by helping trained terrorists infiltrate the LoC or the international border, as an act of war against the nation and can take appropriate and fitting response.
Further, with J&K now an integral part of India and not a 'disputed' territory as claimed by Pakistan, Indiaâs relations with Pakistan will undergo a sea change. Although Pakistan will make an all-out effort in all international forums to get the international community to put pressure on India to reverse the decision (although it is doubtful whether any country or grouping, apart from perhaps the OIC, would choose to meddle in what would be essentially seen as India's internal matter), J&K will cease to be the main agenda in any bilateral talks between India and Pakistan.
There is no doubt that a stung Pakistan will redouble its efforts to foment trouble in the state. Pakistan has always held that due to its Muslim majority, Kashmir always belonged to it. Therefore, "occupied Kashmir", "Indian Held Kashmir"(IHK) and "Indian Occupied Kashmir" (IoK) are terms which are used both by the official machinery in Pakistan and the Pakistani media. Indians are called occupiers and this is the very mentality that Pakistan has been trying to instill in the minds of the youth in the Valley, turning them against the nation that has been looking after them for the last 70 years. Although politicians in the Valley are given to toe the Pakistani line, they are widely despised by the media and the intelligentsia in that country with the writer of a lead article in The Dawn (on 6th August 2019) calling Sheikh Abdullah "the first of the puppet dynasts" and Mehbooba Mufti a "career quisling" politician.
But Pakistan will have to accept the new reality sooner than it thinks. Jammu & Kashmir has been integrated into India. There will be no going back. Given legal jurisprudence, one thinks there are precedents which will guide the Supreme Court to uphold the government action. The world community is not likely to interfere. The common people of Kashmir will be won over with love, development and jobs and the Pakistani stooges among them, by force. The political dynasts in Kashmir will find their hands cut and after some years of fruitless litigations, they will have to accept the limited role assigned to them in the new scheme of things. In short, Pakistan will have to move on after a few years of intransigence. If not, India will give a fitting reply to each of its misadventures.
pic courtesy: avaaz.org
