India is often referred to as the world’s biggest democracy. But the rule of Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called that status into question. Modi has clamped down on political dissent and the rights of India’s Muslim population, while presiding over a catastrophic public health crisis.

The sharpest forms of repression under Modi’s government have taken place in Kashmir, where the Indian state has always displayed its most authoritarian characteristics. From its incorporation into the Indian Union after independence to today’s repressive climate, the people of Kashmir have never been granted the free choice about their political status that they were promised back in the 1940s.

Vanessa Chishti teaches history at the O. P. Jindal Global University in Delhi, India. This is an edited transcript from Jacobin Radio’s Long Reads podcast. You can listen to the episode here.