Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech on Thursday that his government's decision to strip autonomy from the part of Kashmir it controls would bring substantial development to the region. Ashok Malik, Distinguished Fellow at Delhi's Observer Research Foundation, argues that a hardening of views across India towards Kashmir has also created a climate where such a move was possible.
In July 2016, the Kashmir valley erupted following the killing of militant leader Burhan Wani in an anti-insurgency operation.
Wani and the violence in the aftermath of his death represented a new phase in the Kashmir unrest, and the cries for azaadi (freedom) were overwhelmed by calls for jihad. This was no longer a call for an independent Kashmir or even for merger with Pakistan; it was a call for a caliphate. The slogans, videos and imagery of the Islamic State group and similar organisations began to exercise significant influence among many young men of Kashmir.
The events of 2016 had another impact – they brought the ferocity and trenchant rhetoric of Kashmiri separatism into the heart of demonstrations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by left-wing groups on campuses, media debates and public platforms across India.
Historically, the Kashmir problem had not…
