5.1) India's Method of Entrenching Itself in Kashmir

India has been following a very careful and considered policy to entrench itself in Kashmir. India's grab of Kashmir, in the first place was also very carefully planned and with definite designs, short and long- term interests. India has been working in two spheres to bring about change and to 'strengthen' its position in Kashmir. One- inside Kashmir ; two-in the geo- strategic environment of Kashmir. The emphasis has been on change inside Kashmir. The break-up of Pakistan in 1971, was a change in the geo-strategic environment of Kashmir; it had a definite impact on the situation in Kashmir, the most visible being the disbanding of all Jammu & Kashmir plebiscite front- a powerful organisation calling for plebiscite to ascertain the political future of Jammu & Kashmir. India had , in fact written of Kashmir issue in 1971 thinking that it had succeeded in hitting at the very focus of the freedom movement in Kashmir i.e Pakistan.

5.1.1) Creation of a Proxy Political System

India has sought to strengthen its position inside Kashmir primarily on the basis of military force. However, in the game of durable control over Kashmir, creating a proxy political system by sheer manipulation has been a priority with Hindu ruling elites of India. They never truly relied on this proxy system but cleverly used it, and there lies the real purpose of this system. They did not rely on this because this system did not constitute, in real terms, an independent source of strength for India in Kashmir. Indian army and intelligence have been the real sources. But, nevertheless this political system has been India's main source of strength in its dealings with the rest of the world, in particular Pakistan over the question of Kashmir. This is borne out by historical facts. India behaved extremely arrogantly in the early years of its occupation of Kashmir, turned down requests of plebiscite from so many countries and also the proposals put forward by the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan (UNCIP).113 India could afford this rigidity only when it had a viable political instrument in Kashmir in the form of National Conference (NC) and its leader Sheikh Abdullah whom the Hindu leaders had enticed way back in 1930. This had given India a considerable power of manoeuvre in Kashmir and lent an 'acceptable' face to its occupation of the Muslim land--- an otherwise bizarre act of aggression. Apart from strengthening India politically and diplomatically, this proxy political system in Kashmir was geared to serve a more sinister purpose at home, namely ideological and cultural subversion to ensure full Indian entrenchment. It was through this system that India sought to engineer a change in the thinking, outlook, attitudes, morals, values and beliefs among the general masses of Kashmir. This was done mainly with the aim of undermining the Muslim identity and culture of people so that the real bed-rock of their resistance to Indian occupation could be smashed. All this could not have been attempted through brute armed force alone. NC played a pivotal role in this Indian game and a full account of its role in attempting to transform the ground reality in Kashmir is hitherto not thoroughly investigated and reported. Elsewhere, in a not-so-serious study about the encroachments that Islam in Kashmir was subjected to, by its hostile environment i.e, non-Islam, I have looked at NC in historical terms as representing an instrument of 'Hinduization of Islam in Kashmir.'114