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Fighting erupts in Kashmir as 'land grab' law kicks in
By Joe Wallen and Samaan Lateef
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority region in India, has been thrown into turmoil after the government ended decades of prohibition on outsiders buying land there.
Shopkeepers shut their doors in anticipation of violent clashes after the government on Tuesday repealed laws that acted to preserve the unique religious make-up of the border state, which has lain at the heart of India's conflict with neighbouring Pakistan since partition in 1947.
On Wednesday two suspected rebels were killed during a gunfight that erupted shortly after scores of counter-insurgency police and soldiers launched an operation based on a tip about the presence of rebels on the outskirts of Srinagar, police said.
Rights groups described the property move as a Hindu "land grab" by the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which locals have long accused of seeking to foster a mass migration of Hindus to their homeland.
Kashmiris assemble near a house damaged after a gunfight in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on Wednesday.Credit: AP
In August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped the state's autonomous status and split it into two union territories, in an attempt to bring it under greater central control.
A violent pro-independence insurgency has raged in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989 and the Indian authorities are accused of carrying out gross human rights abuses against civilians.
Prior to the sudden change to the ruling, non-Kashmiris could only apply for residency if they had lived in the region for 15 years, meaning demographic change had been very slow.
Kashmiris assemble near a damaged house after a gun battle in Srinagar on Wednesday.Credit: AP
This is now expected to rapidly accelerate as the Indian government pushes ahead with plans to resettle hundreds of thousands of Hindu Pandit refugees who fled Kashmir during intercommunal violence in 1989.
"It's clear that the main agenda of the ruling BJP is to grab more land and change the demography in Kashmir," said Khurram Parvez, a leading Kashmiri human rights activist.
"The fears and allegations of the Kashmiri people have been proven right," he added.
"The decision to make the 1.3 billion people of India party to our land is a leaf out of the Israeli-model of settlements to change the demography of Muslim-majority Kashmir," said Reyaz Ahmad, a Kashmiri political analyst.
Shops were boarded up in Indian-administered Kashmir last night amid fears of another outbreak of protests.
Mehbooba Mufti, the last chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said she strongly opposed the new law.
"The BJP wants to put everything on sale in the only Muslim-majority state, especially our land," said Ms Mufti. "This is part of a larger Hindu nationalist agenda and a warped idea of a Hindu rashtra [homeland]."
Mr Modi argues that the removal of residency laws will stimulate Jammu and Kashmir's economy, which is heavily dependent on agriculture and tourism.
Gareth Price, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House policy institute, was concerned about Mr Modi's motives. "If you take the Indian government at its word - around stimulating investment, promoting development and women's rights - then why is it not also removing similar residency laws in other states in the north-east?"
The Telegraph, London; AP