India’s BJP government has weaponised reservations to disempower Kashmiris

IN DECEMBER last year, the government of Jammu and Kashmir announced the formation of a panel to review the Indian union territory’s policy for reservation in government jobs and public educational institutions. The move came in response to growing unrest over the policy, implemented in March 2024, while the region was still administered directly by India’s central government in New Delhi. The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Omar Abdullah of the National Conference party, who had assumed office only two months earlier, promised a time-bound review that would be completed in six months. But as the deadline passed, there was little more than silence from his government.      

From the time it was introduced, the new reservation policy has faced significant opposition, particularly in Kashmir. Earlier in December, students had taken to the streets in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, urging the newly elected government to rationalise the reservation quotas for particular groups. The National Conference-led administration has been walking a tightrope on this issue ever since.