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Shri Vennu

Honors English III-Apollo

Mr. Ward

November 15, 2019

Article 370: India’s New Amendment

This past summer, in August (of 2019), India made amendments to Article 370; these

amendments are the main reason behind Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to join India, in 1974. This

decision, according to India, is an internal matter. Other countries agree and support India’s

decision. On the other hand, some countries don’t agree with India's decisions and think that it is

unjust to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir, making this situation very delicate.

Article 370 is what gave the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir their special status. This

article is one of the main reasons that Jammu and Kashmir's, Maharaja, Hari Singh joined India,

rather than Pakistan. Article 370 allowed Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to make their

laws except for finance, defense, foreign affairs, and communications. They could make their

own, separate from the rest of India, constitution, flag, and even deny outsiders from the right to

property. What this means, in simple terms, is that when it comes to property ownership and

citizenship, the residents of Jammu and Kashmir have different laws compared to the rest of

India (Al). When Article 370 was amended, not only were the Jammu and Kashmiri citizens

special rights stripped away, their borders were changed too. With the new amendment in place,

“Jammu and Kashmir will be clubbed as one union territory with some 12.2 million people and

Ladakh, with a population of less than 300,000 spun off into another, both ruled directly by
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Delhi” (Ghoshal). This means that rather than being ruled by their (Jammu and Kashmir)

government, New Delhi’s government will be ruling Jammu and Kashmir. There are many

different opinions on this huge decision made by India.

India claims that this situation/decision is internal, and believes that they have made the

right choice, for the better of the nation, as a whole. According to Henri Maloose, a lawmaker

from France, “If we talk about Article 370 it is India's internal matter. What concerns us is

terrorism which is a global menace. We should stand with India in fighting it” ("Article 370”).

This shows that France supports India’s decision and is willing to stand with India to make this

revision (to the amendment) successful. Newton Dunn, a lawmaker from the UK, said “We

belong to Europe, which is peaceful after years of fighting. And for India to become the most

peaceful country in the world we need to stand by its side to fight against global terrorism”

("Article 370”). ​According to Mr. Dunn, the UK believes other countries​ should stand with India

in their fight against terrorism, and that they would like to see India peaceful. Pakistan, on the

other hand, believes otherwise.

Pakistan believes that this decision made by India is wrong, that the amendment isn’t

right for the Jammu and Kashmir region. Pakistan’s Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said, “ I think

today’s meeting nullifies India’s claim that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter for India.”

(“UN Security”). This shows how Pakistan is against the amendment of Article 370 and believes

that the meeting between the UN Security Council proves the fact that this matter is not internal,

but rather something that India should have gotten opinions about before they amended their

laws. Chinese Ambassador, Zhang Jun said, “It is a Human Rights situation in Jammu and
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Kashmir, in India, and it is an abysmal human rights situation with violations carried out with

impunity by India” (“UN Security”). This basically means that China also thinks that the

amendments made to Article 370 are unjust to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.

For some people, it meant that they were going to lose control over some of the land that

they were trying to gain back. For some, it meant that they were getting a stronger grip on the

land that control. For others, it meant that there would be a lot of tension in their neighboring

countries. Article 370, was this article really worth all of the havoc it has caused in/around India?

Article 370 is something that could mean different things to different people.
 Works Cited

Al Jazeera. “Kashmir Special Status Explained: What Are Articles 370 and 35A?” ​India News |

Al Jazeera,​ Al Jazeera, 5 Aug. 2019,

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/kashmir-special-status-explained-articles-370-3

5a-190805054643431.html​.

"Article 370 internal matter of India; terrorism a global menace: EU delegation." ​United News of

India (UNI)​ [New Delhi, India], 30 Oct. 2019, p. NA. ​Gale In Context: Global Issues,​

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A604166222/GIC?u=pl7053&sid=GIC&xid=703d2b3f​.

Accessed 17 Nov. 2019.

Ghoshal, Devjyot. “Explainer: India's Kashmir Region Set to Lose Autonomy, Divided.”

Reuters​, Thomson Reuters, 30 Oct. 2019,

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-restructuring-explainer/explainer-indias

-kashmir-region-set-to-lose-autonomy-divided-idUSKBN1X9175​.

“UN Security Council Discusses Kashmir, China Urges India and Pakistan to Ease Tensions |

UN

News.” ​United Nations​, United Nations, 16 Aug. 2019,

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/08/1044401​.