Concern and fear dominate the population of the Indian-controlled part of Jammu and Kashmir, due to new legislation that paves the way for a demographic invasion of the region from various Indian states, at a time when the world is busy confronting the Corona virus.
A few days ago, the Indian central government passed legislation granting its citizens - who have lived in Jammu and Kashmir for more than 15 years - the capacity of a local citizen to enable them to own land, reside and work in the area, in addition to holding public office.
According to such legislation published in the Official Gazette last Tuesday, immigrants - state-sponsored immigrants in Jammu and Kashmir, and Indian citizens who worked in the autonomous region offices for at least ten years, as well as their families - were granted the status of a local citizen.
On August 5, the government decided to abolish the autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir, split it into two regions, and imposed roaming and telecommunications restrictions and cutting the Internet.
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Zafar Shah, a lawyer and former president of the Jammu Bar Association, says: The new legislation paved the way for gradual control of political, administrative and economic institutions in Jammu and Kashmir, adding that the people of the region are worried that these changes will become permanent.
The lawyer - who heads a suit before the Supreme Court against the recent constitutional amendments relating to the special legal status of the region - adds that the current government has set a goal in mind since it came to power, which is to deal a new blow to the autonomous region of Jammu and Kashmir. He stressed that it was wrong for the central government to take such a step, even before pronouncing the verdict in court cases against the recent constitutional amendments on Kashmir.
According to Sheikh Shawkat, a former law professor and minister in the Jammu and Kashmir government, the new legislation will enable thousands of Indian citizens - currently living in Jammu and Kashmir - to hold public office.
He explained to Anatolia that the same thing applies to the acquisition of real estate and property, as the government is taking advantage of the conditions - which the world is going through, against the backdrop of international efforts to stop the spread of the Corona virus - in order to demolish the Jammu and Kashmir region demographically.
Shawkat stressed that these changes may turn into permanent, even if the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir is restored, as the Indian state controls the general executive in the region, by controlling public officials.
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Hamid Naeem, a pro-independence activist and professor of English at the University of Kashmir, described the new legislation of the central government on Jammu and Kashmir as legislation with a fascist flavor.
He added that the government started taking measures and issuing legislations targeting the demographic reality of Jammu and Kashmir, during a period when the country witnessed the implementation of a mandatory quarantine against the background of the Corona pandemic.
The activist stressed that the conditions of quarantine - which the residents must adhere to in order to prevent the spread of the virus - should make the world more concerned with the situation of Kashmir residents who have been living in mandatory stone for eight months,
He stressed that the residents of Jammu and Kashmir will continue to struggle to remain as a Muslim ethnic group, despite the world showing its face on the Kashmir issue at this important historical juncture.
On the other hand, the political parties represented in Jammu and Kashmir expressed their opposition to the new Indian legislation, considering that they are targeting the demographic reality of the region.
Kashmiri politician Altaf Bukhari - who established a new party to defend the restoration of the region's previous legal status as an autonomous region - criticized the timing of the new legislation, describing it as bureaucratic behavior that has no value as it does not take into account the hopes and aspirations of the people, and aims to change the demographic situation of the region.
For their part, the people of the region are demanding independence from India and joining Pakistan, since the two countries' independence from Britain in 1947, and the division of Islamabad and New Delhi into the region.