This is not a demographic “discussion.” It is an admission of intent. By Dr Mubeen Shah.

A senior BJP leader has now spoken openly about “balancing population” and “settling outsiders” in Jammu & Kashmir.

What Kashmiris have consistently warned about since August 2019 is now being articulated without hesitation: demographic change is a state project. Demography is not a technical variable to be managed. It is about people—their political agency, identity, land, and future. Any attempt to deliberately alter it under conditions of military presence, suspended statehood, and absence of popular consent violates both democratic principles and international law.The abrogation of Article 370 was never about development alone. It was about dismantling constitutional safeguards that prevented settlement and protected Kashmir’s demographic and political character.

Once those safeguards were removed, the path was cleared for a long-term transformation of the region’s population and power structure.The language used—homeland, settlement, balance—is deeply telling. History is full of examples where such language preceded displacement, marginalisation, and permanent political subjugation of indigenous populations.

Kashmir is not vacant territory waiting to be reorganised. Kashmiris are not numbers to be adjusted.And occupation cannot be made legitimate by administrative phrasing. What we are witnessing is not governance—it is engineering a political outcome by altering a people. The international community must stop treating Kashmir as an internal administrative issue and recognise it for what it is: a case of prolonged occupation accompanied by demographic intervention.

*Dr. Mubeen Shah is a former president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and an analyst of political economy and regional security.