Insurgency in Jammu & Kashmir

History & Accession · Article 370 & 35A Abrogation · Phases of Militancy · Pakistan's Proxy War · Counter-Insurgency Grid · 2024 Assembly Elections · Pahalgam & Operation Sindoor 2025

📄 GS Paper 3🎯 Mains Focus⏱ 18 min read📅 Updated June 2026

History of Kashmir — From Princely State to Accession

At independence in 1947, Jammu & Kashmir was the largest of British India's princely states — a Muslim-majority territory ruled by a Hindu Dogra king, Maharaja Hari Singh. Under the lapse of British paramountcy and the Indian Independence Act 1947, the roughly 565 princely states were free to accede to India or Pakistan, or (in theory) remain independent. Hari Singh initially sought to keep J&K independent and signed "Standstill Agreements" with both dominions.

This indecision ended in October 1947 when Pakistan launched Operation Gulmarg — armed tribal lashkars (raiders) from the North-West Frontier, backed by the Pakistan Army, poured into the Kashmir Valley toward Srinagar. Facing collapse, Hari Singh appealed to India for military help.

The Instrument of Accession (October 1947)

India insisted that legal accession must precede the despatch of troops.
On 26 October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession, formally acceding J&K to the Union of India on three subjects — defence, external affairs and communications.
Lord Mountbatten accepted the accession the next day, and Indian troops were airlifted to Srinagar, halting the raiders.
The accession was identical in legal form to that of every other princely state; the special arrangements that followed were political, not a condition of accession.

The 1947–48 War & the Line of Control

The first India–Pakistan war (1947–48) followed. India referred the matter to the UN Security Council (1948), which called for a ceasefire and plebiscite (the latter conditioned on Pakistan first withdrawing — which never happened).
A ceasefire took effect on 1 January 1949, leaving a Ceasefire Line — renamed the Line of Control (LoC) after the 1972 Shimla Agreement.
The result: J&K was partitioned. India retained the Valley, Jammu and Ladakh; Pakistan held what India calls Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the northern areas (Gilgit-Baltistan).

Kashmir on the eve of independence: A geographically vast, ethnically and religiously plural state — Muslim-majority Valley, Hindu-majority Jammu, Buddhist Ladakh — ruled by an autocratic Dogra monarchy facing a popular movement (Sheikh Abdullah's National Conference). This complexity, plus contested accession, made J&K the central, unresolved territorial dispute of the subcontinent.

Figure 1: Key turning points in the Kashmir question, 1947 to 2025.

Article 370 & 35A — Special Status and its Abrogation

The political accommodation that followed accession crystallised in Article 370 of the Constitution (a "temporary provision") and the appended Article 35A.

What they Provided

Article 370 granted J&K special autonomous status: Parliament's legislative power over the state was limited to the three accession subjects plus matters concurred to by the state government; J&K had its own Constitution and flag.
Article 35A (added by a 1954 Presidential Order) empowered the J&K legislature to define "permanent residents" and reserve for them rights in public employment, property acquisition and settlement — barring outsiders from buying land or settling.
Critics argued the arrangement fostered separatism, blocked national laws, and hindered investment and integration; supporters saw it as the guarantee underpinning accession.

Abrogation — 5 August 2019

On 5 August 2019, the President issued an order applying the entire Indian Constitution to J&K, and Parliament passed a resolution recommending that Article 370 cease to be operative — effectively rendering it inoperative.
Article 35A fell automatically with it.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 bifurcated the state into two Union Territories: (i) Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir (with a legislature) and (ii) Union Territory of Ladakh (without a legislature).
In December 2023, the Supreme Court (in In re: Article 370) upheld the abrogation as constitutionally valid and directed that statehood be restored and Assembly elections held.

Exam angle: Remember the precise legal mechanism — abrogation was effected through a Presidential Order plus a Parliamentary resolution, not a constitutional amendment under Article 368. The Reorganisation Act 2019 is the statute that downgraded the state to two UTs.

Main Geographic Divisions of Kashmir

"Kashmir" in popular usage refers to the whole former state; geographically and demographically it is highly diverse and split across three countries.

Region	Status / Control	Key Features
Jammu region	India (UT of J&K)	Hindu-majority, plains and foothills, "Gateway" to the Valley
Kashmir Valley	India (UT of J&K)	Muslim-majority, epicentre of insurgency, dense population
Ladakh	India (UT of Ladakh)	Buddhist/Muslim, high-altitude cold desert, strategic LAC frontier
Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK / "Azad Kashmir")	Under Pakistan	Claimed by India; launchpad for cross-LoC infiltration
Gilgit-Baltistan	Under Pakistan	Claimed by India; CPEC corridor passes through it
Aksai Chin	Under China	Claimed by India; occupied by China since 1950s–62

Strategic note: J&K is where three nuclear-armed states meet. The Siachen Glacier, the LoC, the LAC (Aksai Chin/Ladakh) and the CPEC route through Gilgit-Baltistan converge here — making it both an internal-security and a grand-strategic flashpoint.

Phases of Insurgency in J&K

The Kashmir insurgency is best understood in phases, each marked by a shift in actors and tactics.

Phase 1 — Onset (1987–1990): Indigenous Eruption

The allegedly rigged 1987 Assembly elections discredited the democratic process and alienated a generation of educated Kashmiri youth — the immediate trigger.
Armed militancy erupted in 1989, led initially by the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which espoused an "independent Kashmir" line.
The exodus of Kashmiri Pandits (1989–90): targeted killings and intimidation forced the mass flight of the Hindu minority from the Valley — a defining humanitarian tragedy.

Phase 2 — Islamisation & Pakistani Steering (1990s)

The ISI shifted patronage from the pro-independence JKLF to the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen, recasting the conflict from "azadi" to accession-to-Pakistan and jihad.
Heavy ISI funding, training camps in PoK, and a flood of arms sustained the violence.

Phase 3 — Foreign Militants (late 1990s–2000s)

Battle-hardened foreign jihadists entered via outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), introducing fidayeen (suicide) attacks and high-profile strikes (e.g., the 2001 Parliament attack by JeM).
Militancy became more lethal, ideological and externally directed.

Phase 4 — "New Age" / Hybrid Militancy (2016 onwards)

After the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani (2016), a phase of social-media-driven local recruitment, mass stone-pelting and "hybrid militants" (overground sympathisers who carry out one-off attacks) emerged.
Post-2019, security gains reduced organised cadres, but the threat morphed into targeted killings of minorities/migrant labour and drone-dropped weapons.

Major Militant Outfits Operating in J&K

Outfit	Orientation	Notes
JKLF (J&K Liberation Front)	Pro-independence	Spearheaded the 1989 eruption; later banned (UAPA, 2019)
Hizbul Mujahideen	Pro-Pakistan / merger	Largest indigenous outfit; ISI-backed from the 1990s
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)	Pakistan-based jihadist	Behind 26/11 Mumbai (2008); fidayeen attacks; proxy "TRF"
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)	Pakistan-based jihadist	2001 Parliament & 2019 Pulwama attacks; Masood Azhar
The Resistance Front (TRF)	LeT proxy / front	Post-2019 "indigenous" front for targeted killings; UAPA-banned

Trend: Pakistan increasingly hides behind "indigenous-sounding" fronts (TRF, PAFF) to evade FATF scrutiny and project the violence as a homegrown movement rather than cross-border terrorism.

Proxy War and Kashmir

Kashmir is the principal theatre of Pakistan's strategy of "bleeding India through a thousand cuts" — a doctrine of sub-conventional, irregular warfare designed to impose costs on India while staying below the threshold of open war and maintaining plausible deniability.

Why a Proxy War?

After conventional defeats (1947–48, 1965, 1971, 1999 Kargil), Pakistan's army concluded it could not win a direct war; irregular warfare became the chosen instrument.
The ISI operationalised this through state-sponsored non-state actors — outfits it can deny while directing.

Mechanisms of the Proxy War

Infiltration across the LoC: Trained militants pushed in under cover of cross-border firing, often through "launch pads" in PoK.
Overground Workers (OGWs): A local support network providing shelter, logistics, intelligence and recruitment.
Terror funding: Hawala, charity fronts, fake currency and over-ground separatist channels (the focus of NIA crackdowns since 2017).
Stone-pelting & street mobilisation: Organised crowd violence to disrupt operations and shape narratives.
Radicalisation & propaganda: Social media, religious incitement and a steady ideological pipeline for recruitment.
Narco-terrorism & drone drops: Drug money for financing, and drones increasingly used to drop weapons and narcotics across the border.

Figure 2: How the ISI channels men, money and methods into the Valley while disowning responsibility through proxy fronts.

Government Initiatives to Counter Insurgency

India's counter-insurgency (COIN) approach blends a robust security grid with development, political outreach and de-radicalisation.

A. Security Grid

Multi-tier deployment: The Army (counter-infiltration along the LoC), the Rashtriya Rifles (dedicated COIN force), the CRPF (counter-militancy & law-and-order in the hinterland) and the J&K Police (intelligence backbone via its SOG).
Operation All Out (2017): A coordinated drive to neutralise top militant commanders and dismantle leadership in the Valley.
LoC anti-infiltration grid: Multi-tier fencing, smart-fence pilots, surveillance and the 2003/2021 ceasefire understanding to reduce cross-border firing.

B. Development & Economic Integration

Prime Minister's Development Package (PMDP), 2015: A large outlay for roads, power, health, tourism and infrastructure.
Post-2019, central laws and schemes (land/industrial policy, new investment) extended to J&K to spur jobs and integration.

C. Political & Grassroots Outreach

Three-tier Panchayati Raj: Panchayat, Block Development Council and District Development Council (DDC) elections (2020) — empowering grassroots democracy.
Delimitation Commission (2022): Redrew Assembly constituencies (now 90 seats) ahead of elections.
Assembly elections (2024) restored an elected government after a decade.

D. De-radicalisation & Soft Power

Counter-radicalisation programmes, surrender-and-rehabilitation policies, youth engagement, sports and skilling initiatives.
Choking terror finance: NIA crackdowns on hawala, separatist funding and OGW networks; banning of outfits under UAPA.

Figure 3: India's COIN strategy fuses a hard security grid with development, political outreach and de-radicalisation.

Issues in the News & Current Affairs (up to June 2026)

Declining but shifting militancy: Organised cadre strength has fallen sharply since 2019, but the threat has shifted to targeted killings of minorities/migrant workers, hybrid militants and a push into the relatively quiet Jammu region (Rajouri-Poonch belt).
Drone-dropped weapons & narcotics: Cross-border drones used to deliver arms and drugs have become a persistent challenge along the international border and LoC.
J&K Assembly elections (Sept–Oct 2024): The first since 2014 and the first after abrogation; a high turnout produced an elected government, ending years of central/UT administration.
Pahalgam terror attack (April 2025): A mass-casualty attack on tourists in J&K, attributed to Pakistan-linked outfits (TRF/LeT), shattered the "normalcy" narrative.
Operation Sindoor (May 2025): India's tri-services precision strikes on terror infrastructure across the border in response to Pahalgam, followed by escalation and a halt to hostilities — reasserting punitive cross-border deterrence.
Statehood restoration debate: Following the Supreme Court's 2023 directive, the demand to restore full statehood to J&K remains a live political issue under the elected government.
Terror-funding crackdowns: Sustained NIA action on hawala, OGW networks and separatist financing continues to choke the proxy ecosystem.

Way forward (exam-ready): Sustain the security grid against the residual/shifting threat; complete statehood restoration to deepen democratic legitimacy; press development and youth employment; counter radicalisation and the drone/narco-terror nexus; and maintain credible cross-border deterrence — a balanced "hard + soft" power approach.

Previous Year Questions — Mains with Model Answer Structures MAINS

Mains-only — PYQs up to UPSC Mains 2025. Each model answer is a structured outline. Flesh out each point into 2–3 sentences in the exam. Direct, standalone "J&K insurgency" questions are rare; UPSC tests this theme through cross-border terrorism, proxy/asymmetric war and radicalisation. The questions below are real GS3 PYQs most relevant to this topic.

UPSC GS3 2021 15 marks · 250 words

Q. "Analyse the multidimensional challenges posed by external state and non-state actors to the internal security of India. Also discuss measures required to be taken to combat these threats."

Model Answer Structure

Intro: Define internal security's external dimension; Pakistan (ISI proxy war) and China as state actors, LeT/JeM/TRF as non-state proxies — with J&K the central theatre.
State actor challenge: Pakistan's "bleed India" doctrine, infiltration across the LoC, terror funding; collusive two-front threat with China via CPEC through Gilgit-Baltistan.
Non-state actor challenge: Cross-border terrorism (Pulwama 2019, Pahalgam 2025), OGW networks, narco/drone-terror, online radicalisation.
Multidimensional spread: Military (LoC), sub-conventional (fidayeen/hybrid militancy), economic (FICN), cyber/ideological (radicalisation), demographic.
Measures — hard power: Security grid (Army/RR/CRPF/Police), Operation All Out, anti-infiltration grid, Operation Sindoor 2025 deterrence, NIA/UAPA.
Measures — soft & structural: PMDP development, DDC/Assembly elections, de-radicalisation, statehood restoration, FATF diplomacy.
Conclusion: A synchronised whole-of-nation approach combining deterrence, development and democratic legitimacy.

UPSC GS3 2018 15 marks · 250 words

Q. "The North-Eastern region of India has been infested with insurgency for a very long time. Analyse the major reasons for the survival of armed insurgency in this region."

Model Answer Structure (apply the same analytical lens to J&K)

Intro: Insurgency survives where grievance, geography, external support and weak development intersect — a framework directly transferable to J&K.
Grievance factors: Political alienation (e.g., rigged 1987 polls in J&K's case), identity and autonomy demands.
External sponsorship: Cross-border sanctuaries, arms and funding — ISI in Kashmir; safe havens across borders for NE groups.
Terrain & logistics: Mountainous, porous borders enabling infiltration and concealment.
Socio-economic deficits: Unemployment and under-development feeding recruitment.
State response gaps & remedies: Security grid + development + political dialogue; choke finance, restore democratic legitimacy.
Conclusion: Durable peace needs the "hearts and minds" plus security combination, not force alone.

UPSC GS3 2016 12.5 marks · 200 words

Q. "Use of internet and social media by non-state actors for subversive activities is a major concern. How have these been misused in the recent past? Suggest effective guidelines to curb the above threat."

Model Answer Structure (link to radicalisation in J&K)

Intro: Non-state actors exploit borderless cyberspace; Kashmir's "new-age" militancy since 2016 is largely social-media driven.
Modes of misuse: Online radicalisation & recruitment, glorification of slain militants, mobilising stone-pelting, propaganda and fake news.
Recent instances: Post-2016 viral recruitment in the Valley, encrypted coordination by TRF/PAFF, deepfake/disinformation campaigns.
Challenges: Encryption, attribution, jurisdiction, balancing free speech with security.
Guidelines — tech & legal: IT Rules 2021, intermediary due diligence, swift takedowns, CERT-In coordination, lawful interception.
Guidelines — institutional & social: Counter-narratives, digital literacy, youth engagement, de-radicalisation programmes.
Conclusion: Balance security with civil liberties through a calibrated, rights-respecting framework.

⚡ Quick Revision

Accession: Instrument of Accession, 26 Oct 1947 (Hari Singh)
Special status: Art 370 + 35A → abrogated 5 Aug 2019
Reorganisation: 2 UTs — J&K (with legislature) & Ladakh
Insurgency onset: 1989 (1987 rigged polls trigger), JKLF → Hizbul → LeT/JeM
Proxy war: "bleed India" — infiltration, OGW, funding, narco/drone
COIN: security grid + development + politics + de-radicalisation

📌 Must-Know Facts

Instrument of Accession: 26 October 1947
Ceasefire Line → LoC: 1949 (renamed 1972 Shimla)
Article 370 abrogation: 5 August 2019
J&K Reorganisation Act: 2019 → two UTs
SC upheld abrogation: December 2023
DDC elections: 2020 · Assembly polls: 2024
Pahalgam attack: April 2025 · Op Sindoor: May 2025

🏛️ Key Forces & Agencies

Army — LoC counter-infiltration
Rashtriya Rifles — dedicated COIN force
CRPF — hinterland counter-militancy
J&K Police (SOG) — intelligence backbone
NIA — terror-funding crackdowns

✍️ Answer Keywords

"Bleeding through a thousand cuts"
Plausible deniability
Overground Workers (OGWs)
Hybrid & targeted-killing militancy
Indigenous fronts (TRF/PAFF)
Hard + soft power · whole-of-nation