Normative Epistemology of Right to Self-Determination: A Case Study of Peoples of Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

This write-up surveys the applicability of right to self-determination in the elusive and curious case of Jammu and Kashmir. The paper keeps itself strictly within the ambit and scope of the right to self-determination as granted to peoples under United Nations Charter. I have divided the paper into three parts namely; Facts; the Law; and Analysis. The core question that needs to be answered for the normative application of self-determination is to find out if the State of Jammu and Kashmir is under alien rule. The central argument of this paper is that India was always a single unit, British consolidation and takeover of its reign did not change the characteristics of India as a political system or state. The scheme of British administration in India, structurally, had two units of administrations; one with direct administration under the Parliamentary supremacy of British Parliament and the second unit was the Indian States enjoying their autonomy but lost their sovereignty and international identity to British Empire. The relationship between the Indian States and English Crown was of paramountcy. I also try to examine the relationship among the Indian States inter se. When we throw some light on the jargon of Indian states and its legal relationship under the International Law, its crystallizes the concept the unity of India under the British Empire. I have also attempted to unfold the legal meaning of the term colony and has examined the legal connotation of the same. It is established that Kashmir has always found its place in the administration of British Empire of India and needless to say ancient India in incomplete without Jammu and Kashmir.