Asia and Oceania

India
Last reviewed: 14 October 2009

Country information

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POLITICS

The Indian Constitution provides a system of parliamentary and cabinet government both at the centre and in the states. The Indian Parliament consists of the President, currently President Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil, (elected for a 5-year term as the constitutional head of the executive) and 2 Houses: The Lower House - Lok Sabha ('House of the People') - directly elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage; and the Upper House - Rajya Sabha ('Council of States') - indirectly elected by the members of state legislative assemblies.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress Party are the 2 main forces in the current Indian political scene. Congress heads the ruling coalition at the centre, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) while the BJP leads the Opposition alliance the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Whilst neither can command a clear Parliamentary majority, following the UPA’s good performance at the recent election, UPA gathered the extra seats to form the current government and enjoy a comfortable majority.

HUMAN RIGHTS

India has a robust parliamentary tradition, an independent judiciary, professional and apolitical armed forces, a vibrant civil society, and free and outspoken media. India has signed and ratified all of the major International Treaties and Covenants on Human Rights except the Convention Against Torture, which it has signed only. There has been progress in a number of areas but implementation varies from state to state and awareness of human rights issues is inconsistent. As a result, the rights of women, children, minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes often suffer. The socially and economically disadvantaged sections are particularly vulnerable.

Kashmir

The status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), and the history of events leading to its division, have long been contested and led to at least three wars between India and Pakistan. India claims that J&K legally acceded to it in 1947. Pakistan claims that the Kashmiris were denied their choice of which state to join. Kashmir has been divided since 1948 by a cease-fire line, known since an inconclusive round of negotiations in 1972 as the Line of Control (LoC).

The Pakistani-administered portion is almost exclusively Muslim, divided between so-called Azad (Free) Kashmir and the more remote Northern Areas. The Indian-administered area is divided into 3 main and very different sectors: the Kashmir Valley which is mostly Muslim, Jammu which has a slim majority of Hindus, and Ladakh, which is territorially dominant but sparsely populated, and half Buddhist (it is part of the Tibetan plateau). Political orientations of people in J&K are not governed by religious identity alone. Each of these regions are further internally differentiated on linguistic, religious and cultural lines.

There has been continued violence in the Kashmir Valley (and to a lesser extent in Jammu) between armed groups seeking secession from India (but divided between those who are pro-independence or pro-Pakistan) and the Indian security forces since the insurgency began in 1988/9. Levels of violence have fallen in recent years, but remain high: from a total of around 4,500 deaths in 2001 (including over 1,000 civilians) to around 900 in 2006 (with less then 300 civilian deaths). Most of the groups are headquartered on Pakistani territory. The Indian security force presence in J&K remains high, and there continue to be allegations of serious human rights violations.

Since 2004, India and Pakistan have had several rounds of negotiations including a ‘composite dialogue’ aimed at settling all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. There has been a ceasefire at the Line of Control since November 2003. Both countries have agreed to certain other confidence building measures (CBMs) including the introduction of bus services on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkote routes to connect Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC. Five crossing points on the LoC were opened to enable movement of people. India has allowed separatist politicians to travel to Pakistan for the first time, and Pakistan has received elected politicians from Indian-administered Kashmir (which it previously refused to do). These CBMs are significant symbolic advances for both India-Pakistan relations and for the people of Kashmir.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with several Kashmiri separatist leaders in 2006 and also set up 2 ‘round table’ conferences to discuss Kashmir. He also instituted 5 ‘working groups,’ comprising political party representatives and experts, to frame recommendations for addressing the issue.