KASHMIR : After 2 Years Of Article 370 Abrogation.

KASHMIR: After 2 Years Of Article 370 Abrogation

About 2 years ago from now, the central government of India removed Article 370 from Indian constitution. There were two kinds of people most happy by this decision. First, hyperactive news channel owners who got high TRP guaranteed content for entire month just by sitting in their studios. Second were the old Indian uncles who turned political analysts overnight and began their planning to buy property near Dal lake.

But how did this decision of abrogating Article 370 impact the citizens of Kashmir, their lives?

On 5th Aug 2019, with the revocation of Article 370 from Kashmir, government made huge promises.

Life After Revocation Of Article 370 in Kashmir:

5th Aug 2019, it was another day for the rest of India. Everything was going in the entire country but Kashmir was in a state of commotion since Aug 4th itself. On 5th Aug 2019, Home Minister of India, Amit Shah announced the abrogation of Article 370, and bifurcated the state into two union territories. Government also prepared a long list of objectives to be achieved by this decision along with the announcement. The list said that this step will bring prosperity in Kashmir, increase in industrialization, rise in job opportunities for the youth in Kashmir, expansion of horticulture and handicraft industry, boost tourism industry, protection of the rights of women and scheduled tribes in Kashmir, etc. Now, whether these promises were achieved or not, we will discuss it in a short while. But there was one such scheme that was implemented in Kashmir overnight - the scheme of Lockdown. This was what happened in Aug 2019.

To learn more about the dispute of Kashmir, check out our other article on Kashmir : The Disputed One

The abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir brought extreme joy to the people of India. According to a report by The Economic Times, From Aug 2019 to Dec 2019, Kashmir economy suffered a loss of Rs 15,000 crores right after abrogation of Article 370.

After all this, according to the trade body in Kashmir, KCCI, businesses in Kashmir have suffered a loss of estimated RS 40,000 crores.

Creation of new job opportunities is a far fetched dream now, while over 90,000 jobs are already lost in the handicraft, tourism and information technology sectors (in a report by ORF).

In June 2019, the unemployment rate in Kashmir was at 15.89% which was the least in the India then. Today, the youth of Kashmir is forced to migrate to other parts of India in search of jobs.

5th Aug brought such a normalcy in Kashmir that the tourism sector is frozen to death. Also the apple industry of Kashmir, worth RS 8,000 crores, was worst affected and this caused Kashmir's GDP to fall sharply.

Few months after the abrogation of Article 370, former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satyapal Malik announced a youth package in which about 50,000 youths were promised employment. According to a report by Firstpost, No job notification regarding this scheme has been released till now.

Along with this, after the abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir recorded the highest internet blackout in the world for nearly about 6 months.

Now, let's come to the most important promise by government that they made with the revocation of Article 370.

Peace In Kashmir:

Government made this easy in just one stroke - by locking down all Kashmiris in their houses, utilizing AFSPA at its best, and by detaining all the local politicians. That is when there will be no one on the streets then there will be peace only. Indian Government believed that scrapping of Article 370 would help in curbing terrorism and militancy, but bifurcation of J&K into two union territories made China a third member in this conflict, which India witnessed in the Ladakh standoff.

Recently a report released by Human Rights Forum reveals that how people are being kept in jail without getting bail or any hearing using the PSA and UAPA act.

Amidst the call for development and nationalism, the exploitation of Kashmiris, halting the lives of innocent kids are nothing but a collateral damage for Indian Government.

At last, we just want to remind you that, where you were cursing 2020 after being locked in your houses for just 4 months, citizens of Kashmir were living like prisoners in their own state for about a year. That too, without proper internet services.