Attention Economy


Wednesday, August 7, 2019

India's Bold Move on Kashmir - Background Readings [UPDATED]

Brahma Chellaney, a geostrategist and the author of nine books, including the award-winning Water: Asia’s New Battleground, notes:
“India’s action in revoking the special status of the mountainous northern region known as Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was driven not just by domestic factors, but by U.S. President Donald Trump’s looming Faustian bargain with the Pakistan-reared Afghan Taliban….
It is against this background that the Indian government moved several proposals in Parliament on Monday to alter the constitutional status of the Indian portion of J&K. This included revoking the special powers and privileges of J&K, separating the traditionally Buddhist Ladakh region from J&K, and converting the rest of J&K (made up of Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley and Hindu-majority Jammu) from a state to a federal territory. In addition, it proposed abrogating a misogynist clause permitting women to be stripped of their rights in J&K if they married outsiders.”
Related:
Trump’s Pakistan concessions only provoked India’s Kashmir move

J&K move: The real test begins now

A chance for Kashmir to find a leadership that’s less threatening, more caring
Related:

Lessons for Kashmir’s economic integration with the rest of India

The Economist on India's Move: