India decides to pull out troops from occupied Kashmir

The Indian government has decided to pull out over 7,000 para-military troops from occupied Kashmir on account of the improvement in law and order situation there and also because the troops were on short-term deployment, Times of India reported.

According to reports, of the nearly 7,200 troops being called back from the disputed region, 2,400 are from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and 1,200 each from Border Security Force (BSF) SSB, CISF and ITBP. They were all deployed in the state in view of the government’s decision to abrogate Article 370.

The development in August had paved way for ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Kashmir, drawing strong reactions from the international community, especially Pakistan, as Kashmiris faced isolation amid curfew.

As widespread protests continued across the valley, Indian occupying forces had converted it into a garrison by deploying hundreds of thousands of troops and paramilitary personnel in every street, line and by-lane to stop people from staging demonstrations.

WHAT IS ARTICLE 370?

Article 370 was the basis of Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to the Indian union at a time when former princely states had the choice to join either Pakistan or India after their independence from the British rule in 1947.

The article, which came into effect in 1949, exempts Jammu and Kashmir state from the Indian Constitution.

It allows IoK to make its own laws in all matters except finance, defence, foreign affairs and communications. The article established a separate constitution, a separate flag and denied property rights in the region to the outsiders.

That means the residents of the state live under different laws from the rest of the country in matters such as property ownership and citizenship.

WHAT IS ARTICLE 35A?

Article 35A is a branch of Article 370, which was introduced through a presidential order in 1954 to continue the old provisions of the territory regulations.

The article permits the local legislature in IoK to define permanent residents of the region. It forbids outsiders from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs or winning education scholarships in the region.

While Article 35A has remained unchanged, some aspects of Article 370 have been diluted over the decades.

WHY WERE THEY ABOLISHED?

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its right-wing allies have challenged Article 35A which it calls discriminatory. Earlier this year, a senior BJP leader had hinted that the government was planning to form exclusive Hindu settlements in the region.

With the special status repealed, people from the rest of India would have the right to acquire property in IoK and settle there permanently.

Kashmiris fear the move would lead to a demographic transformation of the region from majority-Muslim to majority-Hindu, paving way for Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s hardliner BJP in the disputed territory.