Pakistan PM says army is preparing to respond to anticipated Indian aggression in region

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, has threatened to “teach Delhi a lesson” and vowed to fight until the end against any Indian violations in disputed Kashmir.

In some of his strongest words since Delhi revoked Indian-administered Kashmir’s special status last week, Khan said the army was preparing to respond to anticipated Indian aggression in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

“The Pakistani army has solid information that they [India] are planning to do something in Pakistani Kashmir, and they are ready and will give a solid response,” Khan said.

Play Video 1:08 'We will teach you a lesson': Pakistan PM Khan issues furious threat to India – video

“We have decided that if India commits any type of violation we will fight until the end,” Khan said during a visit to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, in a speech marking Pakistan’s independence day.

“The time has arrived to teach you a lesson,” he said.

Pakistan, which also claims Kashmir and has fought wars with India over the region, responded furiously to Delhi’s decision last week to revoke Indian-administered Kashmir’s special status. It compared the Indian government to Nazis and suggested they might carry out ethnic cleansing.

Quick guide Kashmir Show Hide Who controls Kashmir? The region in the foothills of the Himalayas has been under dispute since India and Pakistan came into being in 1947. Both claim it in full, but each controls a section of the territory, separated by one of the world's most heavily militarised borders: the ‘line of control’ based on a ceasefire border established after a 1947-48 war. China controls another part in the east.

India and Pakistan have gone to war a further two times over Kashmir, most recently in 1999. Artillery, mortar and small arms fire are still frequently exchanged. How did the dispute start? After the partition of colonial India in 1947, small, semi-autonomous ‘princely states’ across the subcontinent were being folded into India or Pakistan. The ruler of Kashmir dithered over which to join until tribal fighters entered from Pakistan intent on taking the region for Islamabad. Kashmir asked Delhi for assistance, signing a treaty of accession in exchange for the intervention of Indian troops, who fought the Pakistanis to the modern-day line of control. In 1948, the UN security council called for a referendum in Kashmir to determine which country the region would join or whether it would become an independent state. The referendum has never been held. In its 1950 constitution, India granted Kashmir a large measure of independence. But since then it has eroded some of that autonomy and repeatedly intervened to rig elections and dismiss and jail democratically elected leaders. What was Kashmir’s special status? Kashmir’s special status, given in exchange for joining the Indian union, had been in place since 14 May 1954. Under article 370, the state was given a separate constitution, a flag, and autonomy over all matters except for foreign affairs and defence.

An additional provision, article 35a, prevented people from outside the state buying land in the territory. Many Kashmiris believed this was crucial to protecting the demography of the Muslim-majority state and its way of life. The ruling Bharatiya Janata party repeatedly promised to scrap such rules, a long-term demand of its Hindu nationalist support base. But analysts warned doing so would almost certainly ignite unrest. On Wednesday 31 October 2019, the government formally revoked Kashmir’s special status. The government argued that the provision had only ever intended to be temporary and that scrapping it would boost investment in Kashmir. Critics, however, said the move would escalate tensions with Pakistan – which quickly called India’s actions illegal – and fuel resentment in Kashmir, where there is an insurgency against Indian rule. What do the militants want? There has been an armed insurgency against Indian rule over its section of Kashmir for the past three decades. Indian soldiers and Pakistan-backed guerrillas fought a war rife with accusations of torture, forced disappearances and extra-judicial killing.

Until 2004, the militancy was made up largely of Pakistani and Afghan fighters. Since then, especially after protests were quashed with extreme force in 2016, locals have made up a growing share of the anti-India fighters. For Indians, control of Kashmir – part of the country’s only Muslim-majority state – has been proof of its commitment to religious pluralism. For Pakistan, a state founded as a homeland for south Asian Muslims, it is the last occupied home of its co-religionists.



Michael Safi and Rebecca Ratcliffe

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it had asked the UN security council for an urgent meeting on the matter, while Khan has previously vowed to lobby heads of state over what he says are illegal actions by the Indian government. The response by other global powers has so far been muted.

Millions of people in Indian-administered Kashmir remain without landlines, mobiles or internet access, 10 days after an unprecedented blackout imposed hours before India made its announcement.

The territory will remain under a curfew on Thursday as India marks its independence day, a date usually accompanied by protests.

Local media reported some restrictions would be eased after Thursday, but said the communications shutdown would stay in place.

Kashmir: India’s ‘draconian’ blackout sets worrying precedent, warns UN Read more

Delhi’s decision strips the disputed state of Kashmir and Jammu of any elements of autonomy, removing its constitution and flag, and scrapping laws that prevented outsiders from buying land. The state will also be split in two.

It is the most radical change in Kashmir since the region joined the Indian union, and many Kashmiris fear it will alter the demography of what is the country’s only Muslim-majority state.

“It’s an existential battle now,” the Kashmiri politician Shah Faesal told the Guardian on Tuesday. He was reportedly detained at Delhi airport on Wednesday.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, has denounced what he claims is India’s violation of international law. Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images

Other high-profile politicians, including Omar Abdullah, the scion of a prominent political family in Kashmir, and a former chief minister in the state, were arrested last week.

Faesal said Delhi’s actions were “an insult to the dignity of the people”, adding: “My belief is that it will have immediate and long-term consequences. We will see ground mobilisation in the coming days and in the long run you will have sentiment of alienation going further and [it will] erupt.”

He continued: “The common refrain is that everything has finished. Everything has been snatched from us. These are the common lines on every Kashmiri’s lips these days. We have no choice left but to resist.”

Faesal was previously held up as an example of how Kashmiris could succeed in India’s mainstream. He left the Indian administrative service this year to launch a political party, the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM).

Delhi’s actions had destroyed any remaining trust in mainstream politics, he said. “Anybody who used to promote the idea that it is possible to have a future with India – all those people are discredited today.”

Quick guide Where in the world have governments imposed internet and telephone blackouts? Show Hide Governments around the world have used internet blackouts, or blocked popular platforms such as WhatsApp, at times of political crisis. Several countries have also used temporary outages to try to foil cheats in national exams. Netblocks monitors outages worldwide, and has recorded dozens of cases this year alone. But it is rare for all communication, including phone lines, to be severed. Countries that have limited their citizens’ communications, both temporarily and long-term, in recent years include: India partially restored internet access in Kashmir in January 2020 after an unprecedented five-month blackout, but only for institutions providing “essential services”, while social media sites were still be banned. In March restrictions were lifted further. All mobile and broadband internet connections had been suspended when the government revoked the decades-long special status of Jammu and Kashmir, which had given the region autonomy.

partially restored internet access in Kashmir in January 2020 after an unprecedented five-month blackout, but only for institutions providing “essential services”, while social media sites were still be banned. In March restrictions were lifted further. All mobile and broadband internet connections had been suspended when the government revoked the decades-long special status of Jammu and Kashmir, which had given the region autonomy. Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko shut off internet access in August 2020 in the hope of stifling dissent following the disputed presidential election.

president Alexander Lukashenko shut off internet access in August 2020 in the hope of stifling dissent following the disputed presidential election. North Korea is probably the most isolated country in the world. Its people cannot make or receive international phone calls, or access the global internet. Mobile phones operate on a closed domestic network, and North Koreans can only surf a highly restricted national intranet.

is probably the most isolated country in the world. Its people cannot make or receive international phone calls, or access the global internet. Mobile phones operate on a closed domestic network, and North Koreans can only surf a highly restricted national intranet. Xinjiang region in western China was largely isolated for 10 months in 2010. After riots, Beijing blocked internet access and barred international phone calls. Since then an unprecedented surveillance system has been put in place that allows authorities to monitor residents’ phone and internet use rather than blocking it entirely.

was largely isolated for 10 months in 2010. After riots, Beijing blocked internet access and barred international phone calls. Since then an unprecedented surveillance system has been put in place that allows authorities to monitor residents’ phone and internet use rather than blocking it entirely. China has blocked its internet off from the rest of the world wide web with digital barriers known colloquially as the ‘Great Firewall’. Companies that are a staple of digital life elsewhere, including Facebook, Google and Amazon, are blocked and unknown in China. However the controls can be dodged with a VPN, and phone connections to the rest of the world are open.

has blocked its internet off from the rest of the world wide web with digital barriers known colloquially as the ‘Great Firewall’. Companies that are a staple of digital life elsewhere, including Facebook, Google and Amazon, are blocked and unknown in China. However the controls can be dodged with a VPN, and phone connections to the rest of the world are open. Sudan had a month-long internet blackout during mass demonstrations this year. Other countries have shut down the internet or blocked major sites during times of political tension, including Zimbabwe during fuel price protests this year and Uganda for the swearing in of a president whose re-election sparked protests.

had a month-long internet blackout during mass demonstrations this year. Other countries have shut down the internet or blocked major sites during times of political tension, including during fuel price protests this year and for the swearing in of a president whose re-election sparked protests. Iraq, Algeria and Ethiopia are among several countries that have temporarily blocked the internet to prevent cheating in national high school exams. These blocks have usually only lasted a few hours. Emma Graham-Harrison

About 500 people have reportedly been arrested since the security clampdown began, apparently to prevent disorder. Despite strict curfews and a heavy paramilitary presence, 10,000 people protested on the streets of Kashmir’s main city, Srinagar, last week when the curfew was briefly lifted for Friday prayers.

India has said the protests were not representative of all people’s opinions, and has downplayed demonstrations, initially suggesting no more than 20 people were involved. BBC footage appeared to show huge crowds on the streets.

The communications blackout and restrictions on movement mean there is a lack of independent information about what is happening in Kashmir. Satya Pal Malik, the state governor, told the Times of India the severing of communications was to prevent unrest.

“We don’t want to give that instrument to the enemy until things settle down,” he said. “In a week or 10 days, everything will be all right and we will gradually open lines of communication.”

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report