An arrogant act of Hindu nationalism has left India less democratic, less free and less secure

Editorial: A free and fair vote would appear to offer at least the beginnings of a solution to this long-running dispute. It will not happen though, at least not under the BJP

Tuesday 06 August 2019 21:00 BST
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New Delhi protest over India's revocation of Kashmir status

Even by his own shameless standards it is an act of outstanding arrogance.

Virtually overnight, Narendra Modi has turned the autonomous region of Indian Kashmir into a colony of India. As the only Muslim-majority state in India, with its constitutional rights guaranteed by Article 370 of the Indian constitution and the Instrument of Accession agreed when the disputed territory joined India in 1947, it was something of a symbol for the kind of country India should wish itself to be – tolerant, diverse, supportive and protective of its remaining Muslim communities.

Now, though, Indian Kashmir – a good third of the whole Jammu and Kashmir state is controlled by Pakistan, with another fifth occupied by China after the war of 1961 – is to be ruled by Delhi as a mere “Union Territory”.

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