It looks increasingly as if the world wants war, despite the social mood metric of the stock market being at an all-time high.
New Delhi has declared it is revoking a decades-old constitutional provision that granted special powers to the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir. The move comes amid ongoing flare-ups between India and Pakistan over the region.
The majority-Muslim region that became part of India in the times of decolonization, and has been a point of dispute between India and Pakistan ever since, has enjoyed broad autonomy under the Indian constitution. It is the only Indian state that was allowed to have its own constitution.
All laws passed by the Indian parliament, except for those regarding defense, communications, and foreign policy, had to first be ratified by the local legislature before coming into force in Kashmir. Apart from that, only local residents could purchase land or property in the state or hold office there.
This will no longer be the case starting Monday, New Delhi has announced. A resolution to revoke Kashmir’s special status was introduced on Monday by Home Minister Amit Shah and enshrined in a decree signed by President Ram Nath Kovind, the ceremonial head of India.
Translation: The Hindu nationalists are intending to crack down hard on India’s Muslims. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were large-scale population transfers in the cards. Remember, we’re living at the end of one of the greatest global peacetime expansions in human history. The correction will therefore likely be of similar scale and scope.