Changing status of occupied Kashmir ‘dangerous and wrong’: NYT

NEW YORK: The Indian government’s decision to revoke the special status of the occupied Kashmir given under Article 370 amid a huge security clampdown is ‘dangerous and wrong’.

Top US newspaper, The New York Times, in its editorial warned of more violence in the region.

“Bloodshed is all but certain, and tension with Pakistan will soar,” it said.

Titled “India Tempts Fate in Kashmir, ‘The Most Dangerous Place in the World’”, the Editorial said “The Indian government knows how incendiary its actions are, which is why, before making the announcement on Monday, it ordered tens of thousands more troops into Kashmir, put major political figures under house arrest, ordered tourists to leave, closed schools and cut off internet services”.

The Kashmiri leadership, which has been put under house arrest by the Bharatiya Janata Party government, has denounced the move to abolish Article 370. It is being considered as an attempt to change the demography of the Muslim-Majority region.

Pakistan has condemned the ‘illegal’ step of the Narendra Modi government stating that the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir was an ‘internationally recognized disputed territory’.

Calling upon the international community to intervene in the already tense situation, the NYT said: “The fray is not without global implications”.

“The United States and China must not allow Kashmir to become a pawn in their ongoing disputes; on the contrary, the United States, China, the United Nations and other powers with influence over India and Pakistan must urgently do what they can to prevent India’s folly from escalating into a perilous and unpredictable regional crisis.