Amnesty International issued a statement urging Indian authorities to end the ongoing repression of dissent in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
Wednesday marks the first day of state-level elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the first which have been held in ten years. The election is to be held across three phases, where the last phase will commence on October 1 and the counting of votes will be done on October 8. In light of the elections, Amnesty International urged the state to refrain from using any repressive actions in the region. The chair of the board of Amnesty International India, Aakar Patel, has said that:
Indian authorities must end their campaign of harassment and intimidation against dissenting voices… the people of Jammu and Kashmir must be able to exercise their right to fully participate in the decision-making about their future in the run up to, during and after elections.
When India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, signed an Instrument of Accession, acceding to the state of India. On the other hand, Pakistan asserted that Kashmir rightly belonged to Pakistan, considering it was a Muslim-majority state. The conflict between the countries has perpetuated itself over the decades, and both are in eternal conflict over the rightful “ownership” of the region. The conflict has given rise to immense violence and political turmoil in the region, which has been channelled not only through the state but also through different organisations, including terrorist groups.
The abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution in 2019, and the splitting up of Jammu and Kashmir into two separate union territories, have given rise to renewed unrest within the region. Article 370 is rooted in the Instrument of Accession signed in 1947, wherein the erstwhile ruler ensured that the region would retain its autonomy by limiting the legislative powers of the Union government only to matters relating to defence, external affairs, and communication. This found constitutional status in the form of Article 370. Jammu and Kashmir had their own Constitution, which was implemented in 1956. However, in 2019, the government repealed Article 370, thereby effectively abolishing Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and rights in the Indian context. The Prime Minister justified the action by saying it was directed towards “normalising the situation” and “preventing terrorism.” In June 2024, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the action.
The abrogation of Article 370 has marked increased state involvement in the region, and Amnesty International issued a report in 2022, alleging a dramatic spike in human rights violations by the authorities. Despite the massive legal change, the government continued to enforce the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Forces Act 1990 (AFSPA), criticised by many to be a draconian legislation that allows army personnel to shoot and kill any person in an area labelled as “disturbed” with impunity. The study found that Jammu and Kashmir had the highest number of “police-involved deaths” from 2020-2022.
The rights violations also extended to freedom of the press, when the government unilaterally imposed an internet shutdown in the region. Although in the case challenging this action, the Supreme Court said that the state cannot suspend internet services indefinitely and that the action must be proportionate, it did not strike down the action and instead handed the matter back to the state for reconsideration. The shutdown was lifted after more than four months. In the issue, Amnesty International also took note of travel bans, arbitrary detention and unlawful killings. At present, several Kashmiri journalists who have spoken out against the government have had their passports or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards revoked, and are unable to re-enter India.
