Investor Presentaiton
Raising the Stakes in Jammu and Kashmir
Crisis Group Asia Report N°310, 5 August 2020
II.
A Torn History
Page 3
The first Indo-Pakistan war, in 1947-1948, split Jammu and Kashmir in two, with
both countries since claiming ownership over the entire territory.4 As such, Kashmir
is both the cause and consequence of war and hostilities between the two nuclear-
armed states.5 In Indian-administered Kashmir, decades of political activism against
New Delhi's meddling in local politics eventually led to an armed rebellion in the late
1980s, which Pakistan was prompt to support.
A. Roots of the Insurgency
In 1948, the UN Security Council passed resolutions aimed at resolving the Kashmir
dispute between India and Pakistan, proposing a referendum among Kashmiris to
decide which country they wanted to join. Though India opposed the idea of a plebi-
scite, it recognised the importance of assuaging Kashmiri dissent. To gain local sup-
port, and to counter Pakistani influence and claims over the disputed territory, it
granted Jammu and Kashmir special autonomous status in the Indian constitution
in 1950. Article 370 limited the Indian government's powers in the region to defence,
foreign policy and communications, in accordance with the erstwhile princely state's
1947 instrument of accession to India.
Drawing its powers from Article 370, Article 35A, inserted into the Indian consti-
tution through a 1954 presidential order, gave the state's permanent residents exclu-
sive rights to own immovable property, to vote in and contest elections, to seek em-
ployment in the local administration and to obtain other benefits such as health care
and higher education. The constitutional amendment also prohibited the national
parliament from changing the state's boundaries without its constituent assembly's
consent. While Kashmiri separatist parties continued to support either an independ-
4 The former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir is divided into Indian-administered Kashmir
(Jammu and Kashmir) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir (Azad Jammu and Kashmir).
5 For more about Indian and Pakistani claims upon Kashmir and their impact on conflict dynamics,
see past Crisis Group Reports, all op. cit. See also Alastair Lamb, Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy
1846-1990 (Oxford, 2001); and Victoria Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict: India-Pakistan and the
Unfinished War (London, 2000).
6
The resolutions called for the former princely state's accession to either India or Pakistan. There
was no option for independence. Resolution 47 (21 April 1948) noted that India and Pakistan had
agreed to determine Jammu and Kashmir's accession to either country through the "democratic
method of a free and fair plebiscite" to confirm the will of the people. But the plebiscite was condi-
tional on demilitarisation by both India and Pakistan of the areas under their control, which did not
happen in either case.
7 Other than Article 1, which included Jammu and Kashmir in the territories of the Indian state, the
president could order the application or modification of constitutional articles to Jammu and
Kashmir only with the "concurrence" of its government and constituent assembly. Constitution of
India 1949, Part XXI, Article 370 (temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and
Kashmir). These clauses and wording were modified on 5 August 2019 (discussed later). See also
Schofield, op. cit.
8
Article 370, Part III, Appendix I_569 [The Constitution (Applicable to Jammu and Kashmir) Order,
1954, C.O. 48]. Permanent residency applied to persons who were Jammu and Kashmir state sub-
jects before May 1954 or residing in Kashmir for ten years. "With the situation on knife's edge, here's
what the momentous decision will mean for the restive state", The Economic Times, 5 August 2019.View entire presentation