Part 2: India, Pakistan, Kashmir (1885 to 1977)

7. May 2025 Matthias Winter 8 min read

Part 3: Cradle of Violence (1981 to 1990)

Kashmiri protesters burn the Indian flag.

Farooq and Delhi

The aging Sheikh Abdullah campaigned before his death for his politically inexperienced son Farooq Abdullah to succeed him as the “Lion of Kashmir.” Farooq, who had worked as a doctor in London until that point, was elected in 1981 as chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), founded by his father, and assumed the position of Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir after his father’s death.

Farooq’s lack of experience and distant connection to Kashmir made him, in the eyes of the Indian central government, the ideal proxy candidate. While Sheikh Abdullah’s popularity and role in Kashmiri nationalism made him a strong political figure against India and Pakistan, Farooq was the opposite.
As Abdullah’s son, Farooq spent most of his time in Kashmir strengthening his personal ties with the ruling elite in New Delhi.

“Indira Gandhi was very interested in investing in Farooq Abdullah.
He appeared to her as a carefree man, neither ambitious nor deeply rooted in the politics and traditions of Kashmir. His only qualification was being the son of a father whose political sympathies were widespread in Kashmir. Farooq had grown up in the comfortable shadow of his father – there was never a moment when he had to fight a political battle on the street or keep his nerve during a tense conversation behind closed doors. He was a newcomer who could be shaped and molded. He was the perfect proxy” [1]

However, Farooq Abdullah’s reign was overthrown in 1984 by a plot orchestrated by New Delhi, as the central government believed he wasn’t doing enough to counter the growing pro-Pakistan sentiments in Kashmir.
The internal power struggles within the JKNC the previous year, in which Farooq’s brother-in-law Ghulam Mohammad Shah (GM Shah) played a key role, gave New Delhi an opportunity to exploit the party’s division.
They supported the splinter group under GM Shah, who was seen as a completely loyal puppet.

However, GM Shah’s tenure from 1984 to 1986 was so unpopular that Kashmir eventually had to be placed under direct central government control to counter the accelerating development of separatist movements.
The de jure autonomy of the state was fully suspended for the first time during this period.

After two years of direct rule by the central government, new elections were held, which Farooq Abdullah won in a contradictory coalition with the Indian National Congress (INC).
This election was marred by manipulation by both the central government and the parties involved and was considered illegitimate by large parts of the population.

Farooq’s return marked a turning point in the strengthening of Kashmiri resistance and terrorist organizations.
Trust in democracy was almost completely eroded, governance became increasingly unpopular, and the restriction of autonomy was stronger than ever. The manipulation of the election led to the radicalization of many opposition parties, which then turned to Pakistan for financial, logistical, and military support.

After the successful assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by her Sikh bodyguards, her son Rajiv Gandhi took over as Indian Prime Minister with 49.1% of the vote.
However, Rajiv was unable to quell the separatist unrest, especially in the Sikh region.

As a result of the Bofors scandal, involving illegal arms deals between India and Sweden with the participation of Indian National Congress (INC) members, the INC lost its position as the leading popular party in the 1989 elections.
The INC was replaced by the newly competing social democratic Janata Dal, which formed a coalition with the Communist Party (Marxist) and appointed Vishwanath Pratap Singh as the new Prime Minister.

State Terror and Uprising

From 1979 onwards, countless U.S.-funded mujahideen poured into Kashmir via Pakistan.
The Pakistani intelligence service (ISI), massively built up with American funds and guided by Western strategy papers, pursued the tactic of recruiting Afghan mujahideen (who later called themselves Taliban) for its Kashmir policy after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
The ISI recruited young Afghan refugees and former mujahideen, trained them, and smuggled them into Kashmir as guerrilla fighters.

From the mid-1980s, numerous militant groups with fundamentalist Islamic orientations emerged, such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Harakat-ul-Ansar, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Jaish-e-Mohammed, who launched an uprising in Indian Kashmir with ISI support and U.S. funding.
It’s crucial to understand that the material conditions in Kashmir—conditions that would not have existed without Indian repression and the growing disconnect between the people and the rulers during the 1970s and ’80s—provided the rebels and separatists with social backing.

In 1989, the number of alleged assassinations of Indian spies and political collaborators by the socialist-separatist “Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front” (JKLF) increased significantly.
Over a hundred Indian officials were killed within about six months to paralyze the Indian government’s administrative and intelligence apparatus.
In December 1989, the daughter of then Interior Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was kidnapped, leading to the release of several militant fighters in exchange for her freedom – the abduction was celebrated across the Kashmir Valley.

Since large parts of the separatist movement did not align with Pakistan’s interests—namely, not for an independent Kashmir, but for one under Pakistani control—the Pakistani intelligence service ISI supported the founding of “Hizbul Mujahideen,” which, led by the moderately Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir, was intended to counter the mostly socialist-secular separatist movement.

Gawkadal Massacre

Farooq Abdullah resigned as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in January 1990 after Jagmohan Malhotra was appointed Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to his own statement, Farooq considered him “too harsh” toward the Kashmiri population and viewed his resignation as a protest against the appointment.

As a result, the state was placed under Governor’s Rule according to Section 92 of the Constitution.
This meant that the (seemingly) elected government of Kashmir was dismissed, and the governor now ruled directly on behalf of the Indian central government.

Shortly afterward, tens of thousands protested under the leadership of the JKLF against “Governor’s Rule” and the violent house searches and mass (mostly arbitrary) arrests ordered by the new Indian central government under Vishwanath Pratap Singh.
During a demonstration in Srinagar on January 21, 1990, some protesters allegedly began throwing stones at the Indian military presence.
As the demonstrators crossed the Gawkadal Bridge, the “security presence” began firing into the crowd:

“On January 21, a large crowd shouting anti-Indian slogans moved toward Lal Chowk, and the security forces attempted to stop the crowd near Gawkadal. Instead of dispersing, the agitated crowd began hurling stones at government buildings and security forces,” the police report of the massacre stated.

Over 100 unarmed civilians were killed during the massacre; either by direct gunshot wounds or by drowning while trying to flee the bridge.

In the following days and weeks of January 1990, hundreds of thousands demonstrated throughout Kashmir in solidarity with the victims.
Estimates of the total number of demonstrators killed (in January alone) range between 300 and 500.

The unprecedented violence against the demonstrators transformed the separatist movement into a mass movement.
In response to the mass mobilization, the Indian central government decided to introduce the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which allowed the Indian military to carry out arrests and shootings without a warrant.
This led to mass torture, arbitrary detentions, and executions.

The annual number of civilians killed in the Kashmir conflict was around 90 in 1989 and rose to about 900 the following year.