SRINAGAR (Kashmir English): Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, a senior BJP leader and prominent Kashmiri Pandit, has openly acknowledged that India is actively working on changing demography of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) by settling lakhs of Hindus from outside the territory.
His statement has validated concerns widely held by Kashmiris, particularly Muslims, since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
In an interview with The Telegraph, an Indian English daily, Chrungoo said, “I say that people are thinking on these lines [settling lakhs of outsiders in Kashmir], people are working on it.” This admission has reinforced the widespread fear among Kashmiri Muslims, who believe that the primary objective behind the scrapping of Article 370 and the introduction of other sweeping changes was to alter IIOJK’s demographic composition.
Indian efforts to change IIOJK demography
Chrungoo went further stating that the Indian efforts to address what he described the “demographic challenge” were not confined to Kashmir but extended to every part of India where Muslims were, or perceived to become, the majority.
He cited Bengal — where BJP leaders have been speaking openly about driving out “Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators” — Assam, and Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh where dozens of mosques, mazars and madrasas had been demolished.
“So far as Kashmir is concerned, I believe the Indian State is addressing its demographic balancing, its demographic challenge,” Chrungoo said, adding, “Where I say ‘State of India’, it means Government of India and all institutional structure(s), which is not a small thing.”
Before joining the BJP, Chrungoo led Panun Kashmir, a Pandit organisation that wants a separate homeland for Pandits in the Kashmir valley.
“A lot of people say, what you want in your homeland will be done in the entire Kashmir, with the efforts of the government and the political system, which is that they will balance the population,” he said.
Chrungoo outlined his belief that the Indian government has already set up a platform to change IIOJK’s demography over the last six years.
“I see it, how the Government of India is moving forward. It has taken the first decision in this respect constitutionally by scrapping Articles 370 and 35A, which barred outsiders from buying land or holding government jobs in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
“The other decisions were administrative, which are so overwhelming, like if you have an elected government, it will not be a complete government of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and there will always be interference by New Delhi.
“Similarly, law and order is not with him [the IIOJK chief minister]. The guardianship of the administration is also not with him. They are with them [New Delhi].”
Chrungoo further said that the Indian government was working on bringing about cultural change, referring to the recent government surveillance of mosques across Kashmir as evidence of this broader agenda.
