REVOCATION OF ARTICLE 370 AND THE FUTURE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Abstract

BJP government abrogated Article 370 stripping Kashmir from the special status it acquired in the 1950s. The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) occupied by the Indian military for the last three decades came under strict lockdown after BJP promised move. Indian President issued a Constitutional Order 272 and ransacked the freedom of the Kashmiri people. Abrogation of Article 370 has allowed India to experience demographic invasion in the region with profound implications for the people of J&K. The stripping of the special status of J&K by India also left many questions unanswered. These include the legality of the Kashmir Issue, the legal interpretation of amendments in Article 370, and the reason the Indian SC upheld President Order CO 272 in its verdict in 2023. The paper analyzes the implications of revocation of Article 370 for the future of J&K. Likewise, it examines and analyses the causal relations between the revocation of Article 370 and the demographic invasion by India under the BJP government. Kashmiri people’s will and the proximity of geographic areas were not taken into account during the revocation of Article 370. The paper also concludes that although India amended its constitution, the fact is that neither it will change the legality of the issue nor it will change the course of action of the Kashmir people by changing the demographic landscape of the region.