Jammu and Kashmir III: insurgency and after (1989 onward)

Detail

1. The armed movement begins (1989)

• Kashmir insurgency: an armed movement that began in 1989 to make Kashmir a separate nation. Pakistan gave it moral, material and military support.

• Militant groups began to appear in the late 1980s to resist the Union government. By the early 1990s the militancy had become a full insurgency, and India responded with a crackdown [8].

• Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF): founded in 1977 by Amanullah Khan and Maqbool Bhat. It wanted an independent Kashmir, not a merger with Pakistan. It led the early armed phase.

• The JKLF under Yasin Malik was at the front of separatist activity and violence from 1988 onward [6].

• Its killings of Kashmiri Pandits in 1989 started their exodus from the valley [6].

• Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping (December 1989): militants kidnapped the daughter of the Union Home Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The government released jailed militants to free her.

• Many people saw this as a sign of state weakness, and the militancy grew stronger after it.

• Shift in leadership: pro-Pakistan groups (Hizbul Mujahideen) and foreign-based groups (Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed) later took over from the JKLF.

• JKLF ban (2019): the Union government declared the JKLF an "unlawful association" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) [6].

2. President's rule and army control (1990–96)

• President's rule means the Union government runs a state directly when its normal government cannot function. J&K was under it from 1990 to 1996, and the army had effective control in this period.
• AFSPA: under the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990, the army got wide powers in "disturbed areas", including powers to search, arrest and use force, and legal protection for its personnel.
• Violence: militants and army operations both caused heavy violence. Many civilians, security personnel and militants died.
• Popular culture: the film Roja (1992), about a man kidnapped by Kashmiri militants, shows how the conflict entered the national imagination.

3. Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits

• Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits: the large-scale forced departure of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley. Most left in 1989–90, after targeted killings.
• Militant attacks on civilians forced most Kashmiri Pandits, and many Sikhs, other Hindus and some Muslims, to leave the valley from 1990. In all, about 57,000 families moved to Jammu, Delhi and other places [7].
• Most have not returned. Government rehabilitation packages, such as jobs and transit housing in the valley, are still running (verify current).
• Political representation (2023): the J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Act, 2023 lets the Lieutenant Governor nominate up to two members from the Kashmiri migrant community to the Assembly, and one of them must be a woman [3].
• A "migrant" means a person who left the valley after 1 November 1989 and is registered with the Relief Commissioner [3].
• The Lieutenant Governor can also nominate one person displaced from Pakistan-occupied J&K (displaced in 1947–48, 1965 or 1971) [3].

4. Separatist politics: the Hurriyat

• All Parties Hurriyat Conference (1993): an alliance of separatist groups that wanted to separate J&K from India or hold a plebiscite. It led strikes and agitations but boycotted elections.
• The Hurriyat split in 2003 into a "moderate" faction and a "hardline" faction.
• Several of its member groups have been banned under the UAPA since 2019 (verify current).

5. Elections return (1996–2018)

Year	Event	Government / outcome
1996	Assembly elections resumed	National Conference (NC) government under Farooq Abdullah, which demanded regional autonomy
June 2000	Assembly passed an autonomy resolution	The Union Cabinet rejected it
2002	Assembly election	PDP–Congress coalition: Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for three years, then Ghulam Nabi Azad
2008	Amarnath land row	Governor's rule (NCERT: President's rule)
2008 election → 2009	NC–Congress coalition	Omar Abdullah became CM; Hurriyat-led unrest continued
2014	Highest turnout in 25 years	PDP–BJP coalition under Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
April 2016	After Mufti's death	Mehbooba Mufti, J&K's first woman CM, amid terror attacks and rising tension
June 2018	BJP withdrew support	Governor's rule, then President's rule from December 2018

• Greater State Autonomy: the NC's demand to restore the autonomy J&K had under the original Article 370, when the Union could make laws for the state only on defence, foreign affairs and communications.

• The June 2000 Assembly resolution asked for this. The Union Cabinet rejected it, and the demand was not met.

• Governor's rule vs President's rule: J&K had its own Constitution, so its emergency rule came in two steps.

• Breakdown of government → Section 92 of the J&K Constitution → Governor's rule for up to 6 months.
• If the breakdown went on → President's rule under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution (as happened in December 2018).

6. 2019 and after: end of special status

• 5 August 2019: Article 370's special status ended. The legal steps are covered in the special-provisions-scheduled-areas note.
• Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (Act No. 34 of 2019):
• The bill was introduced and passed in the Rajya Sabha on 5 August 2019 and passed by the Lok Sabha on 6 August 2019 [2].
• From 31 October 2019, the state became two Union territories (UTs, areas run directly by the Union through an administrator):
  • UT of J&K, with a legislature.
  • UT of Ladakh, without a legislature. It consists of Kargil and Leh districts [2].
• The President governs both UTs through a Lieutenant Governor (LG) whom the President appoints [2].
• The J&K Assembly was given 107 seats, but 24 stay vacant because those areas are under Pakistan's occupation [2].
• The Assembly has a 5-year term, and the LG must call it to meet at least once every six months [2].

• The J&K High Court serves both UTs [2].

• In re Article 370 of the Constitution (11 December 2023): a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the change [4]. It held that:

• J&K had no internal sovereignty after it joined India [4].
• Article 370 was a temporary provision [4].
• The President could declare Article 370 inoperative without a recommendation from the J&K Constituent Assembly, which no longer existed [4].
• During President's rule, Parliament can use the state legislature's powers, both for making laws and for other decisions [4].

• The J&K Constitution is inoperative [4].

• What the Court did not decide: the Solicitor General promised that statehood would be restored, so the Court did not rule on whether turning a state into UTs was valid [4].

• It directed the Election Commission to hold Assembly elections by 30 September 2024 [4].

• It said statehood should be restored "as soon as possible" [4].

• Delimitation (2022): delimitation means redrawing constituency boundaries.

• The commission was chaired by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. Its ex officio members were the Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and the State Election Commissioner K.K. Sharma [5].
• It set 90 Assembly constituencies: 43 in Jammu and 47 in Kashmir [5].
• 9 seats are reserved for STs for the first time (6 in Jammu, 3 in the valley), along with 7 for SCs. The old J&K Constitution had no ST reservation in the Assembly [5].

• The 2023 Amendment Act raised the number of elected seats from 83 to 90, matching the delimitation [3].

• 2024 Assembly election (September–October 2024): an NC–Congress government was formed under Omar Abdullah. Statehood is still pending (verify current).

7. Recent flashpoints (verify current)

• Ladakh: groups there demand statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule (special self-rule through autonomous district councils for tribal areas). These demands led to the 2025 Leh protests.
• Pahalgam attack (22 April 2025): a terror attack on tourists, followed by India's military response, Operation Sindoor.
• NCERT's view: J&K and Ladakh are "living examples of plural society", with different political and development aspirations in Jammu, the valley and Ladakh.

Prelims Hooks

• JKLF was founded in 1977 by Amanullah Khan and Maqbool Bhat. It wanted independence, not a merger with Pakistan, and was banned under the UAPA in 2019.
• The Hurriyat Conference was formed in 1993 and boycotted elections. It is not a political party that contested polls.
• Greater State Autonomy resolution: passed by the J&K Assembly in June 2000 under Farooq Abdullah and rejected by the Union Cabinet.
• First woman CM of J&K: Mehbooba Mufti (2016), in a PDP–BJP coalition.
• Governor's rule in J&K came under Section 92 of the J&K Constitution, not Article 356. Article 356 applied only after it ran out (as in December 2018).
• J&K Reorganisation Act 2019: UT of Ladakh (Kargil + Leh) has no legislature. UT of J&K has one. One common High Court serves both.
• 2022 delimitation: 90 seats (Jammu 43, Kashmir 47). 9 ST seats were reserved for the first time. Chair: Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
• In re Article 370 (2023): 5-judge bench. Art. 370 was temporary, and J&K had no internal sovereignty. The Court did not decide whether the state-to-UT change was valid and ordered elections by 30 September 2024.
• 2023 Amendment: the LG may nominate 2 Kashmiri migrants (one a woman) and 1 person displaced from PoJK.

Mains Points

• Why insurgency took hold: a long-term loss of autonomy, rigged elections such as 1987 (see J&K II), weak governance and Pakistan's support all combined. The 1989–90 phase shows that denying democratic outlets can turn regional discontent into separatism (GS-I/GS-II).
• Security vs rights: AFSPA (1990) and long spells of President's rule restored control. But they caused civilian suffering, alienation and human-rights complaints. The Pandit exodus shows that the militancy also had victims within Kashmir, and their return is still unfinished.
• Federalism debate after 2019:
• Supporters say the change brought full integration, reservations for SCs/STs, delimitation and elections.
• Critics say it reduced a state to UTs without its legislature's consent, and the Supreme Court left that question open.

• Restoring statehood would test India's commitment to cooperative federalism.

• Accommodation within a plural region: Jammu, the valley and Ladakh want different things (autonomy, integration, Sixth Schedule protection). Asymmetric arrangements, like those used in the North-East, may suit these aspirations better than one uniform model.