Moving Towards Human Catastrophe: The Abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir Valley

Discursive representation of the Article 370 abrogation: A comparative CDA of the headlines of two major Indian online news publications

“…Jammu and Kashmir being the only Muslim majority state was not only stripped of its special status and statehood but was annexed as a Union territory of the Hindu-majority Indian Union (Khan et al, 2021). The removal of the special status of the region led to state-wide resentment among Muslims in the region who felt primary victims due to the arbitrary dilution of their regional autonomy and religious identity (Zia, 2020).…”

“…The ascendance of the right-wing nationalist party BJP to power in India with a full majority in the House in 2014 and the subsequent electoral consolidation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi paved the way for the unfinished agenda of the Hindu nationalists to scrap the autonomy of the disputed territory (Kanjwal, 2019). The BJP-led government on 5 August, 2019, arbitrarily scrapped the Article 370 of the Indian constitution that guaranteed special rights to the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into Union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (Khan et al, 2021). Amid strict lockdown, communication blockade, and 4000 civilian arrests by the Indian security forces, the region made the world's largest open-air prison (Huff Post, 2019).…”

“…"Modi wins hearts and trust of Kashmiri Pandits" 28 (September 24, 2019) "'We can feel the valley air': Kashmiri Pandits rejoice" 29 (August 5, 2019) "Article 370: Exiled Kashmiri Pandits want to return home" 30 (August 6, 2019) "Jammu Kashmir se anuched 370 hatne se duniya bar ke Kashmiri Panditoon ma khushi ke lehar" 31 (August 18, 2019) ["Withdrawal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, a wave of happiness among Kashmiri Pandits around the world"] Jammu and Kashmir being the only Muslim majority state was not only stripped of its special status and statehood but was annexed as a Union territory of the Hindu-majority Indian Union (Khan et al, 2021). The removal of the special status of the region led to state-wide resentment among Muslims in the region who felt primary victims due to the arbitrary dilution of their regional autonomy and religious identity (Zia, 2020).…”

In/secure childhoods: Children and conflict in Kashmir

“…This article contributes to this theme by exploring how Kashmiri children represent security and insecurity in artworks created during the arts-based therapy programme Art of healing in Kashmir, a collaboration between academic institutions in the United Kingdom, Anurupa Roy (Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust), Vikramjeet Sinha (Building on Art), and a school in southern Kashmir Valley. This programme took place in the tumultuous aftermath of India's abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, 3 during which everyday life was brutally interrupted by severe restrictions on free movement, shutdown of Internet services and telecommunications, incarceration of politicians, journalists, and human rights defenders, as well as closure of schools and non-emergency services (Khan et al, 2021). As the political restrictions and communication blackout merged into the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in spring 2020, schools remained closed, resulting in children unable to leave their homes for more than a year with only intermittent contact with the outside world.…”

A political turn? New developments in Indian constitutional histories

“…This controversial legislation was a successor to another equally controversial move undertaken by the new Government just a few months prior. In August 2019, the Government had unilaterally reduced the status of the only Muslim majority populated state in India, Jammu and Kashmir, from being a state to a union territory, thus bringing the administration of the province entirely and directly under the control of the central government (Chakravarty & Zargar, 2019; Khan et al., 2021; Maheshwari, 2019). The people's gesture of protest, then, effectively amounted to what can best be described as vernacularization of the constitution 4…”