Jammu & Kashmir far from Normal after Revocation of Special Status

By: Majid Maqbool

Aug. 5 marked the seventh anniversary of the demotion of Jammu and Kashmir from a state to two federally governed Union Territories (UTs). Seven years on, India’s decision to unilaterally withdraw special state status remains politically fraught as regional parties, except the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), still oppose the decision as something that politically dispossessed the region.

While the BJP celebrated the day for completing the “constitutional integration” of Jammu and Kashmir with India (the region is also claimed by Pakistan and a small portion of it by China), major regional parties like the National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), continue to mourn the loss of special status, which they say snatched away decades of constitutional rights and diluted the special identity of the region.

Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and president of the National Conference party, said the “wounds have not yet healed” seven years after Aug. 5, 2019. He said the central government’s promise to restore full statehood remains unfulfilled and his party is committed to reversing a decision that “took away our rights and threatens our identity.”

NC leaders and MPs joined protests in Delhi and Srinagar on Aug. 5, demanding immediate restoration of full statehood. They said that central government assurances after delimitation and elections remain unmet.

The president of the regional PDP, Mehbooba Mufti, called Aug. 5 a “black day.” She said the central government “looted the special status of Jammu and Kashmir” and demanded the restoration of the rescinded Articles 370 and 35A, release of political prisoners and an end to curbs on democratic expression. PDP activists staged candlelight protests on the occasion in Srinagar and other towns.

“Neither Pakistan nor China granted Article 370 and 35A to Jammu and Kashmir but it was the Indian Constitution. However, the BJP used the brute majority to snatch Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. We are an alive nation and will keep fighting for it,” Mufti said on Aug.4 while participating in a protest in Srinagar on the eve of the anniversary.

A recent report released by the Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir, an informal group of concerned Indian citizens including former judges, senior bureaucrats, military officers, academics, lawyers, and activists, paints a grim picture of the political condition of the region since special status was revoked. The group calls for full statehood to be restored.

The report, Jammu and Kashmir: Seven Years Under Union Rule , was released this month and describes 2025-26 as a year of “contradictory trends” with fewer militant incidents (about 20 vs 35 the previous year) but no corresponding improvement in democratic normalcy or civil liberties.

Deepening accountability gap

The report notes that the current administration has “deepened a governance and accountability gap” as elected representatives, including the ruling NC government, have limited power over key domains. The report highlights the continued use of anti-terror laws, frequent detentions and restrictions on peaceful protest and free expression.

On the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the report notes that it appears to have improved between August 2025 and July 2026, with reported fatalities in armed conflict falling to 32 in 20 incidents with no civilian deaths, 23 alleged terrorist fatalities and 9 soldiers killed. However, the report points out, “Kashmir-related militancy continues and may once again be targeting significant structures in the rest of India.”

The report concludes that fully restoring statehood is a human rights issue and that linking statehood to the security situation is “dangerous” and can be used indefinitely to justify the suspension of democratic rights.

The report notes that governance remains “stalemated between the concentration of powers in the hands of the Lieutenant-Governor, who is not accountable to the people, and the administration, which is accountable to the people but has little to no powers of governance.”

“The grant of emergency powers over telecommunications to Manoj Sinha [the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir] further compounds the helplessness of the elected administration,” the report states.

The report is also critical of the region’s economic trajectory. The report found that the regional economy has suffered from “ill-considered interventions” by the Union government that follow a “start‐stop pattern” that disrupts long-term planning in key sectors. The report highlights rising unemployment in the Union Territory, which is about twice the national average. It links economic underperformance to concentrated power in the hands of the Lieutenant Governor and criticizes the absence of stable, accountable institutions that can design and implement coherent economic policy over time.

The Forum has recommended restoring the pre‐2019 federal arrangements, and reviving independent oversight institutions (including a human‐rights commission) that were disbanded or weakened post-2019.

Grievances remain despite elections

In a recently published research paper authored by two Kashmir-based academics, Waseem Ahmad Bhat and Javaid Ahmad Bhat, the authors analyzed the 2024 assembly elections in the context of the post-2019 changes, arguing that while the local polls provided formal procedural representation, they operated firmly within boundaries engineered by the central government.

“Durable political stability and substantive democratic agency in Jammu and Kashmir will remain elusive without genuine restoration of representative autonomy, clear institutional accountability and a federal recognition of regional diversity,” the authors write in the conclusion of the paper, published in the journal Asian Affairs.

A Kashmir-based political analyst and academic told Asia Sentinel that the abrogation of Article 370 fundamentally changed the political and constitutional position of Jammu and Kashmir.

“It reduced the region’s political autonomy and increased the role of the central government through Union institutions and the Lieutenant Governor. The restrictions, detentions, communication shutdowns, and limits on political activity after 2019 created a sense of uncertainty and political alienation among many people,” the analyst said, wishing to remain anonymous.

Overall, he said the 2024 elections were a key sign of renewed political participation, “but not necessarily evidence of full democratic reconciliation or restoration of the political autonomy that existed before 2019.” He said voting does not necessarily mean that political grievances have been resolved.

Burhan Majid, a Kashmiri academic who teaches law at Jamia Hamdard University in New Delhi, told Asia Sentinel that demands for the restoration of statehood, and the continued opposition of regional political parties, show that the 2019 changes have not resolved the deeper political contest over Jammu and Kashmir.

“Even the Supreme Court, in upholding the abrogation in 2023, ordered the government to hold elections and restore statehood, a tacit admission that legality and legitimacy are not the same thing,” he said.

Majid Maqbool is an independent journalist and writer based in Kashmir.