By Odwa Bafana Mkentane
As Pakistan will observe Yom-e-Istehsal, on 5 August 2026, marking seven years since India’s decision in 2019 to revoke the special constitutional provisions governing Jammu and Kashmir, High commission, Malik Muhammad Farooq says according to the partition plan which was agreed in 1947, all those areas where Muslims were in majority were to be made part of Pakistan.
“On 5 August 2019, what India did that they revoked Article 370 and 35A which granted special status to the Indian Occupied Kashmir, means that if there are any changes which the Indian government wants to do, they can do like removing special status and making it part of the republic, which is against, totally, totally against the international law as well as the resolutions of the Security Council. The purpose is to change the demographic structure of the region in the sense that 85% of the population is Muslim, but with this region, you know, because of certain reasons, you know, but the major was the collusion between the Viceroy at that time and Jawaharlal Nehru as well as the maharaja who was, you know, somehow ruling the Kashmir,” said Farooq.
The Indian government’s decision to revoke Article 370 and Article 35A on 5 August 2019 was presented as a historic constitutional reform that would integrate Jammu and Kashmir into the Indian Union, eliminate militancy, and usher in an era of peace and development. Nearly seven years later, however, the region remains marked by political contestation, recurring security incidents, and competing narratives over whether the move resolved or deepened the Kashmir dispute.
Photo: Pixabay
