Kashmir

[Nefertiti2]

As TonTon has pointed out we need a thread to discuss what looks like the Indian Government under Modi annexing the state.

i know very little- looks like I’m not the only one.

[URL]https://twitter.com/priyamvadagopal/status/1158441434292334592?s=21[/URL]

[ad hoc]

Yes my knowledge of Kashmir comes mostly from novels rather than reportage. Arundhati Roy's Ministry of Utmost Happiness being the most recent (and, to my mind, best) account. Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown too.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Priya is always worth reading, following etc.

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1158457945035825153

[Antepli Ejderha]

Is there a decent article or articles that frames this? I only really know it in the binary terms of India versus Pakistan.

There are a large number of Kashmiri immigrants in the UK so I'd expect there to be quite a lot written about this.

[ursus arctos]

Basic explainer from the Washington Post

[Amor de Cosmos]

It's all Trump's fault

"Trump landed himself squarely in the middle of this intractable quagmire on July 22. Seated next to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the White House, he unwittingly dropped a bombshell by claiming Modi had asked him to mediate in Kashmir. Trump may just have been bragging, but it was a jaw-dropping moment in the subcontinent. India went into firefighting mode. If Modi really had made such a request for outside intervention, it would have broken an agreement with Pakistan that Kashmir could only be handled as a bilateral issue. Within the hour, the Indian foreign ministry said "no such request" had been made and its media fulminated at the suggestion. Indian Congress Party lawmaker Shashi Tharoor said: "I honestly don't think Trump has the slightest idea of what he's talking about."'

But now he's boxed himself into a corner:

Pakistan itself welcomed Trump's suggested mediation with a larger neighbor. Khan nodded with approval as Trump made his remarks in the White House, and said: “I can tell you that, right now, you would have the prayers of over a billion people if you can mediate and resolve this issue.” His Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the offer was "more than Pakistan's expectations."

Undaunted by India's pushback, Trump reaffirmed on August 2 that he was happy to intervene. -- Politico

[ursus arctos]

[Antepli Ejderha]

Basic explainer from the Washington Post

Thanks for that. I didn't know that Kashmir wanted independence and not be part of Pakistan or India nor did I know that part of it is in China.

How much of India's ending of autonomy and de facto annexation a reaction to China's increased role in Pakistan and the region in general?

[George C.]

It's all (mainly) due to BJP sh*t-stirring.

And doubtful they've even noticed China, hopefully not, as India would not come out of it well.

[Hot Pepsi]

I didn’t know any of that either. I just knew it was very contentious and the Led Zeppelin song and the sweaters.

I don’t see what is in it for India to antagonize everyone this way. It just seems like completely needless nationalist dick-swinging.

[caja-dglh]

India and Pakistan have been inching towards a war for some time, HP. This is the easiest trigger.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Modi is a vicious anti-muslim communalist fascist. That seems explanation enough for me.

[ChrisJ]

Modi is a vicious anti-muslim communalist fascist. That seems explanation enough for me.

This is a fair summary. It's not just a provocation or part of the strong-man act though.

Of course it will be presented as an opportunity for a desperately poor region to 'develop' - in the way that fascists usually mean when they talk about development. That locals will now inevitably be priced out as property becomes available for wealthy southerners to buy holiday homes will be ignored; or smokescreened by ahistorical talk of the Pandits' flight in '47. So long-term it may be an attempt to saffronise Kashmir. Short term it's almost certainly an attempt to humiliate Pakistan, Muslims and Kashmiris. All of whom are utterly powerless in this and so it's a risk-free masterstroke.

The bullshit about 'bringing Kashmir into line' with the rest of India won't bring Kashmiris the same civil rights, access to communications and so on. The human rights situation which is already dreadful will deteriorate. There'll be the odd small-scale incursion or local rebellion, each of which will simply lead to more disappeared, more blinded children and a fresh excuse to pile on the 'security'. (There were already more security personnel than inhabitants in J&K before the recent upscale...)

Modi has just won a fresh mandate in an election and has been strengthening his position vis-a-vis the composition and confidence of the Supreme Court since taking power the first time. Externally, no-one outside of Pakistan really cares. China isn't interested in which manifestation of the Indian state it's in dispute with, though it might do a little denunciation for form's sake. But essentially, nothing whatsoever will be done about this by anyone at all.

[Nefertiti2]

thanks Chris

https://twitter.com/cereal_twit/status/1158665329410805760?s=20

[Nefertiti2]

This, linking the absence of a Pakistani response to the coming deal with the US and the Taliban in Afghanistan is very interesting.

https://twitter.com/Jane_Samuels/status/1158701847458324481?s=20

[ursus arctos]

Interesting indeed, though US withdrawal from Afghanistan is by no means a complete retreat from the region given the massive financial support for the Pakistani military and the increasingly close ties between Modi supporters and the Administration. Virulent anti-Muslim Modi supporters were one of the very few communities of colour to publicly support Trump in 2016.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Surely they'll all be won over by the first Indian-american to run seriously for president?

[ursus arctos]

Particularly after the Daily Stormer took credit for getting her into the debates

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Eh? She's the Junior Senator for California. She doesn't need anyone's help to get on tv.

[ursus arctos]

That is correct. I was obviously going for the Hindu nationalist.

[Nefertiti2]

Long thread from Kashmir

[URL]https://twitter.com/sannareya/status/1158693209847017472?s=21[/URL]

[ChrisJ]

This, linking the absence of a Pakistani response to the coming deal with the US and the Taliban in Afghanistan is very interesting.

Thanks, I hadn't tied the Afghan situation in to this. Although history suggests that both the Taliban and the US government would be unwise to invest too much trust in each other.

One other source which may be helpful here.

Another here.

It also occurred to me earlier that the timing of this might be significant, coming less than two weeks before Independence Day which will doubtless help drown the few voices of protest in a swell of patriotic fervour. (Expect Dhoni to get his special fucking gloves out again.) The replies on William Dalrymple's Twitter feed (which also links to a load of useful stuff) are predictably depressing.

[San Bernardhinault]

Surely they'll all be won over by the first Indian-american to run seriously for president?

Nikki Haley's not going to run for President until 2024.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

That is correct. I was obviously going for the Hindu nationalist.

Kamala Harris's mother is from Chennai. It's kind of weird that I only found that out recently. She's obviously decided that that's not going to be helpful politically.

So since 2016, that's the UK, The USA, China, India and the Phillipines, that have all simultaneously plunged into totalitarianism (further into totalitarianism) combined with industrial amounts of Islamophobia. It is almost like Mike Pompeo is going to get to lead the armies of the lord in the armageddon that is going to precipitate the rapture.