India: Kashmir — Article 370, Detentions and the UN Resolutions

Summary

Since Article 370's 2019 revocation, Kashmir has seen deepened central control; the 2025 Pahalgam attack triggered mass detentions and home demolitions that Kashmiri politicians and residents call collective punishment.

What it argues

1. Article 370 revoked

   On 5 August 2019 India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special autonomous status, reorganising it into two union territories, Ladakh without a legislature. BJP and allies backed the move; Congress, National Conference, PDP and others opposed it, forming the Gupkar Declaration to defend Kashmir's autonomy. Statehood for Jammu and Kashmir has not been restored since. The 2019 move ended Kashmir's separate constitution and split India's parties along pro- and anti-autonomy lines.

2. Pahalgam attack and India-Pakistan tension

   The 22 April 2025 attack killed 26 people; India blamed Pakistan and named two Pakistani suspects, which Islamabad denies. India rejected Pakistan's offer of a joint investigation; PM Modi issued a warning from Bihar. Analyst Praveen Sawhney says full-scale war is unlikely, though Pakistan calls any disruption of water supplies an act of war. The attack has raised India-Pakistan tension without, analysts say, pointing clearly toward war.

3. Mass detentions after the attack

   Nearly 2,000 people were detained across Kashmir for questioning since the attack, police told AFP. A police official said these are 'not arrests, just for seeking information' and that many detainees have been released. Authorities frame the sweep as investigative, not punitive, detention.

4. Homes demolished, a killing disputed

   Soldiers blew up at least nine to ten homes of suspects' families within 72 hours, including Shahzada Bano's house in Bijbehara. In Bandipora, Altaf Lali was killed in what officials call an encounter with a militant associate; his family says he was detained two days earlier and the encounter was staged. Enforcement actions against suspects' relatives are disputed by the families themselves.

5. Legal route to revocation

   India's Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that Article 370 had become a permanent feature since the state's constituent assembly had dissolved. The government circumvented this by declaring the article 'inoperative' through a presidential order rather than repealing it outright. The revocation relied on a procedural workaround rather than a direct constitutional repeal.

6. 'Collective punishment' claims

   MP Ruhullah Mehdi and residents say families are being punished en masse for relatives' alleged militant links. CM Omar Abdullah and former CM Mehbooba Mufti urged that innocent people not bear the brunt of the crackdown. A Delhi-based journalist likened the situation to events in Palestine; Sawhney said the action targets 'the people this time,' not just land. Kashmiri politicians and residents describe the crackdown as punishing the community, not just suspects.

7. Divided regional reaction to 2019

   Hindu-majority Jammu and Buddhist-majority Leh largely celebrated the 2019 revocation. Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and Kargil saw protests, with Kargil leaders calling it a 'black day'. Reaction to the 2019 change split along the region's religious and ethnic lines.

8. Property rights and homelessness

   Article 35A, which reserved property, employment and scholarship rights for permanent residents, was effectively ended alongside Article 370, with new domicile rules introduced. Demolished families, like Bano's, are left homeless and reliant on neighbours for food and shelter, with no compensation offered. The changes have reshaped property and residency rights while leaving demolished families without redress.