And Ladakh is now designated a special district, and they appear to be rejoicing. However it seems there are serious concerns as well, in regards to China. I read they’ve been lending money to the monasteries, in substantial amounts. That could seriously complicate things, I think.
It’s frightening to see people fleeing…in anticipation of what will come.
Pakistan really does not want Hindu Jummu or Buddhist Ladakh. India has no desire for Muslim Gilgit and Skardu. Its really only the Valley were the dispute is.
I suspect Gilgit-Baltistan will be made a province of Pakistan in response. The Indians had a hissy fit when it was stood up back in 2009…this will really make them mad.
No need to shed tears for our Indian Union, thank you. We will take care of ours. There is no such animal as a “pro India Kashmiri politician”. We have seen this in the last 70 years. What Article 370 did was dilute Indian administrative control, and thereby allow Pakistan to meddle in Kashmir, buy/threaten/bully Kashmiri leaders in service of its violent secessionist agenda. India has been extremely stupid to have legislated A370 in the first place, allowing Pakistan to manufacture a “dispute” that Kashmir was contested territory, when in reality there was none. It was all done and dusted in the 1965 war.
Militant secessionist efforts need to be put down militarily. When people come to their senses, the Indian Union is usually more than willing to negotiate and accommodate legitimate demands. But this is not what happened in Kashmir: India gave a limited-time special status to Kashmir, which the Kashmiris turned into a weapon against India. The special status was a privilege granted by the Indian Union, not a right. They misused it, and it got taken away.
I stated this: India does not recognize Kashmir as a “dispute”, regardless of what Pakistan, WaPo and NYT may tell you. Kashmir is constitutionally a part of India. Whether we give or revoke special statuses, that’s our business.
If what mandela states is the actual thinking in India, then the country is fucked.
If you couldn’t control a area with 500,000 troops, you sure as hell aren’t going to with 700,000. Or 900,000.
It did appear for a while in 1989 that India was fucked, with a raging Pakistan-sponsored insurgency in Kashmir. It is difficult to control territory or population when an armed insurgency is being fed by an external military power (US-Taliban-Pakistan ring a bell?). But India’s armed forces are better than you think. Gradually the insurgency was put down, and now there is no way in hell Pakistan can take Kashmir by force. So India is quite OK, and not fucked at all.
Does India’s military proficiency have anything to do with Indian regiments that served in the British Army?
I’d like to know more about this “limited time special status” and “privilege and not a right.” The articles I’ve read in mainstream US media state that essentially part of the Indian constitution has been revoked unilaterally by Modi. Have the US media gotten this wrong, or have I misinterpreted what I’ve read?
Article 370 was a special, temporary and transitional provision granted to the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The serving Indian President issued a constitutional order revoking the original 1954 order, which the Indian President is empowered to do in consultation with the J&K Constituent Assembly. Since the J&K Constituent Assembly (conveniently) dissolved itself without making a recommendation, the President acted with the concurrence of the Governor of J&K, a standard and recognized practice for Indian states that do not have an Assembly for whatever reason.
Modi could have done nothing without the concurrence of the President and J&K Governor. Article 370 came in via a Presidential Order, and was revoked the same way. What Modi supplied was the political will to get the thing done.
The US media coverage has been along predictable lines - Modi is a Hindu nationalist ogre out to destroy the identity of the only Muslim-majority state of India, Modi is a malevolent anti-Muslim leader yada yada. The US/UK media is Left-leaning and carries a clear anti-Hindu, anti-India bias - the more “liberal” the media outlet is, the more pronounced this bias. It is disappointing, but nothing new.
I agree with that. I am also of Indian origin for full disclosure.
It is also to be noted that Muslims in India have their own personal law. Muslim personal law - Wikipedia
The Muslim law allows them polygamy, the daughters only inherit a fraction of the family wealth, etc. Its almost like Mormons having their own laws spelled out in the US constitution.
Any attempted reforms to the laws is portrayed as discriminatory while many of these laws are outdated and leads to misery.