On Aug. 5, 2019, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind formally revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution which protected Kashmir’s special status and tightened the Indian central government’s grip over the Muslim-majority region.
Pakistan has roundly and repeatedly condemned India’s move on Kashmir. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan would “teach India a lesson,” and promised to “fight until the end.” Put aside the fact that India likely never would have changed the status quo had it not been for decades of overt Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic the states use to achieve aims at a relatively low cost. In this case, the Pakistani gamble backfired, and Khan, as well as Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, have no one but themselves to blame. Lost in the Pakistani criticism of India’s actions, however, is recognition of Pakistan’s own hypocrisy. For four and a half decades before India revoked Article 370, Pakistan stripped both Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir (as Pakistan calls the portion it occupies) of their special status.
