the Supreme Court validates the abrogation of Kashmir’s autonomy

The Indian Supreme Court has ordered elections to be held in 2024. This decision puts an end to the special status of this region.

The predominantly Muslim region of Jammu and Kashmir acquired the status of an autonomous region after India’s independence in 1947. Kashmir was effectively split into three. One part was attached to Pakistan, another to China and the last to India.

This part was known to be particularly unstable with an insurgency that left tens of thousands dead for decades. And this until 2019. That year, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, decided to take control of the situation. It was then an end to limited autonomy, with mass arrests, a total closure of the region, the cutting of means of communication for months and the mobilization of the army to contain the demonstrations.

A policy of repression validated by the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court had been seized by opponents who contested Prime Minister Modi’s takeover. However, the judges seem to side with those in power, for several reasons. She first declares that the Jammu and Kashmir region is a region like any other in India and that Narendra Modi was right to end its status as a semi-autonomous region. Then, as it is a region like any other, the central power must organize local elections before September 30, 2024. Finally, the Supreme Court supports the power in having acted as it did, in 2019, because it represented “a culmination of the integration process”. In short, this means that the repression allowed the region to fall into line.

The Supreme Court therefore validates Narendra Modi’s policy. As soon as the verdict was known, the Prime Minister immediately welcomed this decision which he described as “historical”. It is “a glimmer of hope, the promise of a better future and a testimony of our collective determination to build a stronger and more united India,” said the Hindu nationalist leader on X (formerly Twitter). He also knows that on the subject, he has the support of the population in the rest of the country.

Opponents of Narendra Modi who had appealed to the Supreme Court recognized their institutional defeat. But the people of Kashmir could still make themselves heard. In 2023, just over 120 people have been killed, including insurgents who continue to challenge Indian authority.