Motion To Void An Eviction Order: Fill & Download for Free

You need to apply to the Board to void the eviction order. Fill in a form called Tenant's Affidavit and Motion to Void an Eviction Order for Arrears of Rent. You can get the form online from the Board's website at Landlord and Tenant Board | SJTO or you can pick it up at a Board office or at your local Service Ontario Centre

Thank you for the A2A[1].I have written about this before on Quora, but the same question keeps coming back to haunt the Indian subcontinent.We just passed August 5, 2020. This date marks the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir by the Indian government. If you have missed the details on my earlier analysis on the Kashmir Problem, I invite you to read through this one.Edit 1:I thank all my readers for your overwhelming support for this writing. Many of you have expressed the hope that this post should reach all Indians, Pakistanis, people in the west, leftist-liberal Indian journalists, biased western media... that list is long. All of that can happen, only if YOU take the initiative to do YOUR bit. As Gandhi advised us - "Be the change you want to see in the world".If you are numb with the overdose of biased reporting from Washington Post, New York Times, BBC, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera (this list is long too), you can respond by doing this - share this writing through your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp accounts… whichever social medium you use. This will not happen without YOUR action. The false narratives on Kashmir can only be dispelled by supplanting them with the truth.When did Kashmir start losing its peace?[2]The world we live in today, if you were to ask for a commentary or analysis or opinion on the Kashmir problem, there is one argument that will garner unanimous agreement across the South Asian subcontinent (and even from foreign affairs experts around the globe and self-styled experts on Kashmir from the western media) - that the history of the Kashmir problem starts with 1947.Take a look at the 59 other answers to this question on Quora. 90% of those answers begin with the narrative of what happened in 1947.The expanse and the magnitude of this myopia is disconcerting!The seeds of the Kashmir problem were sown centuries before 1947 came into being. 1947 and the birth of Pakistan simply triggered what could be the beginning of the end for this most disturbing and perennially lingering episode in the history of the Indian civilizationWhat is the Kashmir Problem?Kashmir is not a territorial dispute.Kashmir is a dispute emerging from a civilizational struggle.A struggle for uprooting a civilization with an indigenous and deeply ingrained culture of peaceful coexistence between ethnicities and religions… and forcibly replacing it with a virulent strain of Islam that borders on the insidious and violent totalitarianism of Sunni Wahhabism.Kashmiri Hindus - The original Inhabitants of Kashmir[3]According to folk etymology, the name "Kashmir" means "desiccated land" (from the Sanskrit: Ka = water and shimeera = desiccate). In the Rajatarangini[4], a history of Kashmir written by Kalhana[5] in the mid-12th century, it is stated that the valley of Kashmir was formerly a lake. According to Hindu mythology, the lake was drained by the great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, son of Marichi, son of Brahma, by cutting the gap in the hills at Baramulla (Varaha-mula). When Kashmir had been drained, Kashyapa asked Brahmins (the highest caste among Hindus) to settle there.If we go by written history, Kashmiri Hindus are the aborigines of Kashmir. The native pagans who survived centuries of cruelty and oppression while keeping the flag of Indian civilization fluttering in the valley against all odds.However, as a result of the incessant invasions by Muslim barbarians, some parts of the Indian civilization began to witness a change in demographics in favor of Muslims. Kashmir happened to be a key example of one such region.Exodus of Hindus from KashmirKashmir and its original inhabitants - the Hindus of Kashmir have been in existence for centuries before Pakistan or any of the Muslim League leaders and the proponents of the 2 Nation Theory were even born.From the 14th century to the present times, the Hindus of Kashmir have been at the literal bleeding edge of the clash of civilizations. As a result, over the course of a few centuries most Kashmiris had been converted out of the Hindu fold by the force of intimidation and brutal violence that characterized the better part of Muslim Rule in Kashmir.By the turn of the 20th century, Kashmiri Pandits came to represent the bulk of the Hindu presence that remained in Kashmir. The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community.Some westerners pose the question, why do all Kashmiri Hindus belong to just the Brahmin caste. Well, that is because all the other (Hindu) castes were converted to Islam by the swords of the tyrants who ruled the valley. Tyrants like Sikander Butshikan[6], Ali Shah, Shamsuddin Iraqi and others who not only carried out terrible genocides but also destroyed the centers of Kashmiri Hindu spiritual and intellectual life. History bears evidence to the desecration and destruction of great Hindu temples like the Sun Temple at Martand and countless other shrines.A rare photo of the ruins of the Surya Temple at Martand, which was destroyed due to the iconoclastic policies of Sikandar Butshikan, photo taken by John Burke in 1868.Source: Wikipedia on Sikandar Butshikan[7]Kashmiri Hindu women were beautiful. There was a time in Kashmir under Afghan rule when their striking looks became such a burden on their families that their noses had to be cut-off and their heads shaved, to protect the Hindu girls from the lustful eyes of the ruling barbarians.Such atrocities created pressure on the dwindling Hindu community to flee from Kashmir not once or twice but 7 times since Islam came to Kashmir. The demographics of the Kashmir region continued to change decisively in favor of Muslims. This episode will be continued to its climax when we get to 1990, the year Hindus were "ethnically cleansed" out of Kashmir.1947The Indian civilization finally woke up to an era of realizing its long cherished and hard fought dream of nationhood. However, fate had destined one last blow of plunder and pillage of a different nature.A man named Mohammed Ali Jinnah mistook independence from the British to mean the subcontinent had just turned into a once in a lifetime opportunity to a grab-all-you-can real estate bonanza[8]. He claimed that the Muslims needed a separate homeland, just because they were born Muslims, and needed protection from the violent and unpredictable Hindus in an independent India. Jinnah made sure they got one at the cost of 2 million dead and 14 million displaced from their homes. But, for Jinnah's overbearing lust for a kingdom and a throne, that was small price to pay so long as Muslims could secure their “only for us” homeland. A few decades down the line that cherished homeland for Muslims would turn out to be a paradise for the rich and the privileged among Punjabi Sunni Muslims and a purgatory for Muslims of all other types and sects. But, Jinnah didn’t know that yet.While Jinnah and his coterie enjoyed their newfound real estate, the British spiced up the situation with a menu of options to the autonomous princely states. Those options were - merge with either India or Pakistan, or remain independent.The king of Jammu and Kashmir, Raja Hari Singh chose the latter. His decision caused serious concern in Jinnah's homeland named Pakistan (Land of the Pure).Pakistan's Lust for Kashmir and the First Kashmir War of 1947 - 1948Neither the Indian Independence Act of 1947[9], nor the Radcliffe Boundary Commission[10] indicated that Kashmir "belonged to Pakistan".There is no documentary evidence that the British, at any point in history considered Kashmir to be gift-wrapped and handed over to Pakistan. All historical evidence strongly suggests that the British wanted the fate of Kashmir to be determined by its ruler, as was the case with all other princely states from the Union. For Pakistan to claim that Kashmir belongs to them on the basis of a Muslim majority will be as much a figment of their imagination as for Mexicans to claim that California belongs to them on the basis of an overwhelming majority of Hispanics in that state.Yet, rulers in Pakistan worried that Kashmir would either remain independent, or worse, join India. Pakistan's lust for Kashmir was born out of the perverted ideology that territories in the South Asian subcontinent, with Muslim dominated demographics, should belong to Pakistan.This twisted ideology of gabbing land with majority Muslims in the name of a “Muslim homeland” would be busted in 1971 when Muslim East Pakistan initiated a mass rebellion against Muslim West Pakistan. In return, Muslim West Pakistan launched one of the worst genocides recorded in recent history on Muslim East Pakistan[11].That genocide and the uncontrollable influx of refugees from Muslim East Pakistan into India resulted in India’s intervention and the subsequent surrender of West Pakistan before India… one of the only recorded cases in recent military history of one nation publicly surrendering to another. East Pakistan changed into the independent nation of Bangladesh[12]. But, Pakistan didn't know all that yet.To secure Kashmir, Pakistan dispatched tribal marauders to seize Kashmir by force. On 22 October 1947, Pakistan's Pashtun tribal militias crossed the border of the state. These local tribal militias and irregular Pakistani forces moved to take Srinagar, but on reaching Baramulla, they took to plunder and rape and stalled.Hari Singh's Decision to join IndiaMaharaja Hari Singh made a plea to India for assistance, and help was offered, but it was subject to his signing an Instrument of Accession to India. The then British Viceroy Lord Mountbatten would not allow India's intervention without a formal treaty with the Maharaja. The Instrument of Accession broke that stalemate. By executing this document under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to accede to the Dominion of India. The Instrument of Accession gave India’s Parliament the power to legislate in respect of the state of Jammu and Kashmir only on the matters of defense, external affairs and communications.The events that followed on the battlefield, to the settlement at the Line of Control (LOC) are widely documented, and I will refrain from detailing facts well known. The Indian army succeeded in pushing the Pakistani marauders back, so that two thirds of Kashmir, including the Srinagar valley remained in Indian territory, while the remaining one-third of Kashmir including the region of Gilgit Baltistan came under Pakistani occupation. The irony is that Pakistan renamed that seized and occupied territory as “Azad Kashmir”, meaning liberated Kashmir. Liberated from what… from an infant Indian state that was still struggling to stand on its feet? India calls it “Pakistan occupier Kashmir” or PoK.Pakistan’s Contribution to Developing “Azad Kashmir”Today Muzaffarabad, the capital city of Azad Kashmir proudly serves as the global headquarters of the Pakistan military sponsored terrorist group Hizbul Muhahideen. Thanks to the Pakistan military, all of Azad Kashmir has a well developed infrastructure of terrorist training camps that are used regularly to launch terror attacks on the Indian side of Kashmir[13]. Global terror organizations such as Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) also share terror training centers along with the Hizbul Muhahideen in Azad Kashmir. The LeT and Hizbul have conducted multiple terrorist attacks on Indian soil. The Hizbul Mujahideen has been designated a global terrorist organization by the Unites States[14], European Union[15] and India. The Lashkar-e-Taiba has been designated a global terrorist organization by the United States[16], the United Kingdom[17], the European Union[18], Russia, Australia [19]and the United Nations[20] and India.The territory of Azad Kashmir is occupied and regularly used by the Pakistani military to recruit young, unemployed young men from families living below the poverty line and training them to become the Islamic fundamentalists and jihadis that can conduct sabotage and subversive activities on the Indian side of Kashmir. This arrangement fulfills 2 critical objectives for the Pakistani military.It builds into Pakistan’s narrative for the global audience that Kashmiri freedom fighters homegrown within India’s borders are fighting against Indian occupation.It allows the Pakistani military to wage a relentless proxy war on the Indian armed forces stationed in Indian Kashmir, without risking any of its regular personnel. Once the terror training mechanism is in place, terrorists can be produced a dime a dozen, as disposable war machines.So much for “Azad Kashmir” or PoK.Syed Salahuddin, the supreme leader of Hizbul Mujahideen in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), with his menSource: The Week[21]The Instrument of AccessionThe Instrument of Accession, which Maharaja Hari Singh signed with India was a simple document. In the blank spaces, it had a place to fill in the name of the state, the name of the ruler, the date of accession, a place to hold the signature of the ruler and lastly, a line where Lord Mountbatten would put in his signature.This simple document was used to persuade 602 princely states to join the Union of India. When a princely state signed the Instrument of Accession, it gave India’s Parliament the power to legislate on the matters of defense, foreign affairs and communications. Thereafter, the delegates of the princely states would meet with India's Constituent Assembly to gradually bring their kingdoms under the full purview of the Indian Constitution. The princely states were also participants in the formulation of the Indian Constitution. This process of political amalgamation was somewhat similar to the Constitutional Convention of the United States, also known as the Philadelphia Convention that took place from May 25 through September 17, 1787. This process would culminate in a complete adoption of the Indian Constitution by the state in question thereby consummating the accession of the state to the Union of India.With Jammu and Kashmir, the process diverged a bit. Though Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession, his government pointed out that they were signing the document under exceptional circumstances, as they were “under attack from a neighboring hostile entity - Pakistan”. So as not to be rushed into the process, they asked for more time to align themselves with the Union of India.The Constituent Assembly agreed to this special request.However, there was a debate on which parts of the Constitution would apply to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which would not, and at what length of time would the accession be complete. To accommodate Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India, the only temporary Article in the Indian Constitution was drafted. This was called Article 306A which later became Article 370.Article 370In March 1948, the Maharaja appointed an interim government in the state, with Sheikh Abdullah as the prime minister. In July 1949, Sheikh Abdullah and three other colleagues joined the Indian Constituent Assembly and negotiated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), leading to the adoption of Article 370. The controversial provision was drafted by Sheikh Abdullah.Article 370, which came into force in 1952, empowered J&K to be a near autonomous state since it limited the Indian government's authority to just external affairs, defence, finance and communication. This provision allowed J&K to have a Sadar-e-Riyasat for governor and prime minister in place of a chief minister till 1965 as well as its own flag and constitution.Article 370 ensured that the law of citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights of the residents of Jammu & Kashmir is different from the residents living in rest of India. Under Article 370, citizens from other states cannot buy property in Jammu & Kashmir. Under Article 370, the Indian government had no power to declare financial emergency.Sheikh Abdullah wanted to turn Article 370, the only temporary provision in the Indian Constitution, into a written-in-stone edict that could not be replaced or terminated by future Indian governments. This violated the very understanding which India’s Constituent Assembly had reached with the state of Jammu and Kashmir - that the accession of the state to the Indian Union would be put on a slow but certain pace through Article 370.Fortunately for India, Sheikh Abdullah did not succeed in voiding the temporary nature of Article 370, which is why the Article reached it’s logical conclusion on 5 August 2019, under the Indian government led by Prime Minister Modi.Article 35AArticle 35A which comes under Article 370, gave the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature full discretionary power to decide who the 'permanent residents' of the state are. It gave them special rights and privileges regarding employment with the state government, acquisition of property in the state, settling in the state, and the right to scholarships and other forms of aid that the state government provides. It also allowed the state legislature to impose any restrictions upon persons other than the permanent residents regarding the above.Article 35A, proscribed non-permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir from permanently settling in the state, buying immovable property, acquiring land, applying for government jobs or any kind of scholarships, aids as well as other public welfare projects.The Night of January 19, 1990Almost 40 years after the First Kashmir War…Pakistan had not forgotten its unfinished business from the war of 1947 - 1948. It had captured a third of Kashmir. However, two-thirds of Jammu and Kashmir which included the prized Kashmir valley was still in Indian territory. Pakistan had been biding its time for an opportune moment to strike.That time came in the late 1980s. By 1989, Pakistan believed it now had a proven strategy. It was the one used to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan. The strategy of infiltrating well trained Mujahideen across the Indian border into Kashmir to train and arm locals and incite them to foment jihad against every Indian entity present in Kashmir.Also, Pakistan had the nuclear umbrella, to deter (as it hoped) any significant pushback from India in response to the proxy-war about to be launched in Kashmir. The nuclear threat was a tactic that Pakistan used very effectively against a far more powerful but surprisingly docile India, for a span of almost 25 years (till a man named Modi would come and call Pakistan’s nuclear bluff).Thus, Pakistan launched an asymmetric war in Kashmir.The cold, dark night of January 19, 1990, had stirred into life the worst nightmares of Kashmiri Pandits living in the Kashmir valley. Screaming from loud speakers and crowded streets was a message for the Sikhs and Hindus living in Kashmir - Ralive, Tsalive ya Galive which translated from Kashmiri means "Convert to Islam, leave the place, or perish".The threats had been coming in for a long time, but the night of January 19 is said to have seen a demented assault of a different level. Almost 3 decades later, Kashmiri Pandits shiver remembering the night that forced them into exodus.Colonel Tej Kumar Tikoo, a Kashmiri Pandit himself, describes that fateful night in his book, Kashmir: Its Aborigines and Their Exodus[22]."As the night fell, the microscopic community became panic-stricken when the Valley began reverberating with the war-cries of Islamists, who had stage-managed the whole event with great care; choosing its timing and the slogans to be used. A host of highly provocative, communal and threatening slogans, interspersed with martial songs, incited the Muslims to come out on the streets and break the chains of 'slavery'. These exhortations urged the faithful to give a final push to the Kafir in order to ring in the true Islamic order. These slogans were mixed with precise and unambiguous threats to Pandits. They were presented with three choices - Ralive, Tsaliv ya Galive (convert to Islam, leave the place or perish). Tens of thousands of Kashmiri Muslims poured into the streets of the Valley, shouting 'death to India' and death to Kafirs.""The (Kashmiri) Pandits could see the writing on the wall. If they were lucky enough to see the night through, they would have to vacate the place before they met the same fate as Tikka Lal Taploo and many others. The Seventh Exodus was surely staring them in the face. By morning, it became apparent to Pandits that Kashmiri Muslims had decided to throw them out from the Valley. Broadcasting vicious Jehadi sermons and revolutionary songs, interspersed with blood curdling shouts and shrieks, threatening Kashmiri Pandits with dire consequences, became a routine 'Mantra' of the Muslims of the Valley, to force them to flee from Kashmir."Ethnic Cleansing of the Kashmiri PanditsThrough the export of battle hardened Mujahideen into Kashmir, the Pakistan military and the ISI had set in motion a strategy which would later be described as "bleeding India by a thousand cuts".The Muslims in the valley were being trained physically and psychologically, to envision a Kashmir free of any Hindu influence, geared up to demand statehood and complete independence from India.Before the turn of the 21st century, Kashmir would be ethnically cleansed of Hindus that had called it home since the inception of the land.Those Kashmiri Pandits that Stayed Back or Returned…However, some Kashmiri Pandits would not leave or would come back to the valley. These are their stories.The teacher and his students: Neelkanth Raina was a school teacher who chose to stay back, despite the dire warnings from the Muslim fundamentalists. He was killed by his own students in cold blood while his neighbors assisted the killers in quickly escaping from the crime scene. The murder was meticulously planned and skillfully executed.The Lab Assistant: Girija Kumari Tikoo was a laboratory assistant at a Government High School. She had already left the valley along with other Hindus in early 1990, and was living in a refugee settlement in the neighboring Jammu province. Hindus living in refugee settlements in their own country just because their Muslim neighbors would no longer want them in the neighborhood - ever heard of such a travesty of fate in any other part of the globe? She went back to the valley for a few days to collect her dues from the school never to return. On her way to the school, she was kidnapped by Muslim fundamentalists, gang raped and sodomized before being cut into pieces in a saw mill. She was survived by a 4 year old son and a 2 year daughter.The Professor and his Wife: Professor K.L Ganju and his wife, Mrs. Prana Ganju were kidnapped along with their nephew. After showering bullets on the professor his body was quickly disposed of into the turbulent waters of the river Jhelum. Like in the movies, his nephew was given a choice - to jump into the river or watch his aunt's modesty getting outraged, of which he took the first choice, and survived. Mrs. Ganju, she was gang raped, her breasts chopped off before she was killed.If you dig into Kashmir's history circa 1990 and the early 90s, there are hundreds of gruesome cases of terror and betrayal against resident Kashmiri Hindus to narrate. But, the cases of Neelkanth Raina, Girija Kumari Tikkoo and the Ganju couple drive home an important point. All of them were killed after the Hindu community had already left. These atrocities were thus a signal from the Muslim majority community to the exiled Hindus, never to even think of returning to their homeland. Their houses had been occupied, their places were being renamed, Kashmir was no longer theirs.Just as the dust of Hindu eviction from the valley was settling, it dawned upon the terrorist leadership of the Kashmir valley, their mentors in Pakistan and their apologists in the media all over the world that the public perception of the secessionist movement in Kashmir was getting damaged. So, a narrative began to be promoted that the Indian government had conspired to get the Hindus evicted so that Indian security forces may freely oppress the Muslim population. The religious terrorism of the Kashmiris underwent a cosmetic surgery, and began to be called a political struggle.The underlying thought process actively promoted by Pakistan was - now that Kashmir has been cleansed of almost all traces of Hinduism from the valley, it is time to revert back to the 1947 formula concocted by a consortium of land-grabbing, power crazy demagogues from the Muslim League, that every piece of land with Muslim domination, should secede to Pakistan.To this day, Kashmir remains a religious and civilizational conflict. It has no political dimension except on the surface.2019: Pre August 5Kashmir and the Rest of IndiaThe picture below shows how young women in Kashmir spend their day. Pelting stones at Indian security forces is the high point of their morning or afternoon.Source: Zee News, IndiaAnd this is how many young women in the rest of India spend their day. Bouncing ideas off each other during the lunch hour so they could crack that technical challenge they encountered during the morning.The above picture is from one of the campuses Infosys[23] has built across India. Infosys is the legendary Indian IT behemoth that was the first Indian company to be listed on the US NASDAQ in 1999.I am not promoting Infosys, I have no personal interest in the company but, I have a point to make.Time for a Q & AQ: Does Infosys have a campus in Kashmir?A: No.Q: Why not? Wouldn't young women in Kashmir want to switch the low-paying job of stone pelting[24] with the far more lucrative job of code crunching on laptops?(Yup, sources within the Pakistani military run a well-funded operation[25] of financing young Kashmiri men and women for pelting stones at Indian forces stationed in Kashmir)[26].A: They cannot, even if they wanted to.Q: Why not?A: Not a single IT company- Indian or multinational has a presence in Kashmir.Q: I don't get it! India is the 5th largest economy globally and is home to almost all the major IT corporations of the world. Some of them like Oracle Corporation have even built their largest Development Centers outside of the US[27], in Indian cities[28]. And then like Infosys and WIPRO, India has its own litany of indigenous IT companies and many fledgling start-ups spread across the land. Azim Premji[29], the Chairman of WIPRO and one of the richest men in the world (as of August 2020, he is 253rd on the Forbes list of billionaires[30]) - is a Muslim himself! Then why have these IT business houses and their tycoons ignored the state of Jammu and Kashmir?A: Well, their hands are tied. The special status provided to Jammu and Kashmir by Articles 370 and 35A ensures that non Kashmiris cannot buy land in Kashmir. So long as Kashmir is "protected" by its special status within the gilded cage of Article 370 and 35A, there is virtually nothing that someone even as powerful as Azim Premji can do.The Developmental Hurdles Posed to Jammu and Kashmir by Article 370 and 35AArun Jaitly held cabinet positions as Minister of Finance, Minister of Corporate Affairs and Minister of Defence in the Narendra Modi government. As a former lawyer of the Supreme Court of India, he was regarded across the nation and even internationally as one of the finest minds in India's corridors of power[31]. He passed away on 24th August 2019 (just 19 days after Article 370 was abrogated by his government).In a blog post titled "How Article 35A hurt the people of Jammu & Kashmir", Arun Jaitley wrote the following."The State does not have adequate financial resources. Its ability to raise more has been crippled by Article 35A. No investor is willing to set up an industry, hotel, private educational institutions or private hospitals since he can neither buy land or property nor can his executives do so. Their ward cannot get government jobs or admission to colleges (as they are not Kashmiris). Today, there are no major national or international chains which have set up hotel in a tourism centric State. This prevents enrichment, resource generation and job creation. (Kashmiri) Students have to travel all over, including Nepal and Bangladesh, to get college admissions. Engineering colleges and hospitals, including super-speciality facility set up by Central Government in Jammu are lying under-utilized or unutilized since Professors and Doctors from outside are unwilling to go there. Article 35A has prevented investment and dismantled the State’s economy. ""Article 35A, which is constitutionally vulnerable, is used as a political shield by many but it hurt the common citizen of the State the most. It denied them a booming economy, economic activity and jobs.""The historic blunders of special status under Article 370 and Article 35A had cost the country both politically and financially."In one of his last comments after the abrogation of Article 370, Jaitley said - "Article 370 invoked the separate status that led to separatism (in Jammu and Kashmir). No dynamic nation could allow this situation to continue."With the revocation of Article 370 "A historical wrong has been undone today. Article 35A came through the back door without following the procedure under Article 368 of the Constitution of India. It had to go.""The decision of the government will help the people of Jammu and Kashmir the most. More investment, more industry, more private educational institutions, more jobs and more revenue will come,” he said, adding that “Kashmir’s regional leaders now feel they would not be able to whip up the fake issue of 'sentiment verses benefit'."Sentiment versus BenefitSentiment versus benefit, and economic, educational and financial benefits to be precise. Let's chew on that for a moment, and when we start drawing on the juice on that thought, we should think it through.For those of us here in the US, consider a hypothetical situation to understand what Arun Jaitley means. Say for example, I were born into a Hispanic family in California in the year 2000. In the year 2014, the population of Hispanics officially surpassed that of Whites in California. I am now a teenager dreaming of growing up and going to Stanford or UC Berkeley (just examples) for my college education, and later getting hired by Google or Facebook or any of the tech giants in California’s Silicon Valley. In effect, I have bright visions of my future as I see it playing out in my very own state, an economically vibrant part of the world.Now, a charismatic leader rises up in neighboring Mexico and starts a rant for the separation of California as a state from the US and its accession to Mexico, on the basis of an ever growing Hispanic majority in California.Is that a legitimate claim? Should I be thrilled with that?A final question to Kashmiris on BOTH sides of the borderIf you are a Kashmiri parent of Islamic faith on either side of the LOC, ask yourself this - would you be happier sending your child to one of the world renowned Indian Institutes of Technology or would your child have a brighter future attending the famous madrassas of Lahore?Your children will inherit the future you create for them.Sources:India's Move in Kashmir: Unpacking the Domestic and International Motivations and Implications - Christine Fair in LAWFARE, August 12, 2019Footnotes[1] Carla Stewart's answer to What are some real life examples, good or bad, of karma?[2] What is the Kashmir Issue?[3] History of Kashmir - Wikipedia[4] Rajatarangini - Wikipedia[5] Kalhana - Wikipedia[6] Sikandar Butshikan[7] Sikandar Shah Miri - Wikipedia[8] Carla Stewart's answer to What is your opinion about Pakistan becoming a secular country?[9] Indian Independence Act 1947 - Wikipedia[10] Radcliffe Line - Wikipedia[11] Operation Searchlight: Genocide unleashed on Bangalis in East Pakistan[12] Carla Stewart's answer to What are some real life examples, good or bad, of karma?[13] Militant Training Camps in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir: An Existential Threat[14] State Department Terrorist Designation of Hizbul Mujahideen - United States Department of State[15] L_2019209EN.01001501.xml[16] Amendments to the Terrorist Designation of Lashkar e-Tayyiba - United States Department of State[17] Terrorism Act 2000[18] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32003D0902:EN:HTML[19] Listed terrorist organisations[20] Sanctions List Materials[21] When I met Salahuddin in Pakistan[22] Kashmir: Its Aborigines and Their Exodus: Tikoo, Colonel Tej K.: 9781935501343: Amazon.com: Books[23] Infosys - Wikipedia[24] How Pakistan funds separatists, stone-pelters in Kashmir through illegal barter trade at LoC[25] ISI’s budget for Kashmir stone pelting is Rs 1,000cr - The Sunday Guardian Live[26] NIA roused after undercover STING on stone-pelter funding in Kashmir[27] Oracle to set up biggest development centre outside US in Bengaluru[28] Oracle's second largest campus will soon be a reality in Bengaluru[29] Azim Premji - Wikipedia[30] Azim Premji[31] Arun Jaitley, Bold Indian Finance Minister, Is Dead at 66

To first understand how the First Mexican Empire collapsed, it is necessary to understand the following:(Flag of the First Mexican Empire, with a crowned Mexican Eagle on a cactus born from a rock)(Coat of Arms of the First Mexican Empire, established by Decree of the Governing Sovereign Junta of the Empire, dated January 7, 1822.)(Map of the First Mexican Empire. The Empire possessed a territorial expansion of approximately 4,925,283 square km/1,710,000 sq mi, with an approximate population of 6,500,000 inhabitants.)Agustín de Iturbide, the first Constitutional Emperor, was not originally contemplated to be the Emperor of Mexico.(Meeting on September 13, 1821, of the Spanish General O'Donojú, and General Francisco Novella, with the Mexican General of the Three Guarantees, Agustín de Iturbide, in Tacubaya.)On August 24, 1821, General Agustín de Iturbide, leader of the Trigarante Army, met with Juan O'Donojú, Superior Political Chief of New Spain (today Mexico), and they signed the Treaties of Córdoba, in which they accorded the Independence of Mexico, and the withdrawal of Spanish troops in Mexico as well.(Agustín de Iturbide (1783–1824), First Emperor of Mexico.)However, the treaty was based on the political project of the Plan of Iguala, previously proclaimed by Iturbide, which established the following four points:Establishing the Independence of Mexico.Maintain the monarchy headed by Fernando VII or one of the members of the Spanish Crown.Establish the Catholic religion as the only official religion.Establish the union of all social classes.With the Treaties of Córdoba, the second point was specified with the following:“Will be called to reign in the Mexican Empire, in the first place, Fernando VII, Catholic King of Spain; and by his resignation or non-admission, his brother the serene gentleman Infante Don Carlos; by his resignation or non-admission, the serene Infante Don Francisco de Paula; by his resignation or non-admission, the serene Carlos Luis de Borbón Parma, Infante of Spain, formerly heir of Etruria, today of Lucca; and by resignation or non-admission of the latter, the one designated by the Courts of the Empire.”As is well known, this never happened, and it was for the following reason: Spain did not recognize the Independence of Mexico, since it considered that the Treaties of Córdoba were invalid since they considered that Juan O’Donojú was incapable of making such arrangements.(Agustin de Iturbide entrance to Mexico City on 27 September 1821)Due to this, and as it was established in the Plan of Iguala in its 5th article, on September 28, 1821, a Provisional Government Junta was formed, with the purpose of exercise the "Legislative Power" until the electoral call for the formation of a Mexican Congress. Iturbide was elected as President of the Junta. The need for the monarchy as a legitimizing source of power was insistently evident, and therefore, in the absence of a monarch, the Provisional Government established the Regency of the Mexican Empire at night, led by Iturbide himself as president.The Constituent Congress was established on February 24, 1822, yet Iturbide's relationship with Congress was strained.There were disputes between republicans and monarchists (Bourbonists; and later Iturbidistas), disputes between Iturbide and members of Congress regarding army and navy budgets, and unauthorized expenses as well; not to mention that Iturbide had problems regarding the protocol of Congress, wanting to take the main seat of the rostrum, without being President of Congress, during the rendering of the oath to the Regency in front of the Congress; and later with his controversial interruption in a Congress session after accusing members of it and of the Regency of traitors.Despite the fact that the accusations were later analyzed, and it was determined that the accused had not undermined any confidence, the accused deputies accused Iturbide of being a traitor, to the point where people in Congress considered his removal.However, on May 18, 1822, there was an Iturbidista uprising, which publicly acclaimed Iturbide as Emperor. On the way to Mexico City, people from all classes and social strata joined the proclamation. Amid cheers, civil and military music, and celebratory rifle shots, Iturbide was proclaimed Emperor, at least by the people.Iturbide was at his residence in the company of close friends. Hearing the commotion outside his window, Iturbide goes out to the balcony of his palace to greet them. After hearing the proclamation, Iturbide addresses the crowd, urging civil peace and obedience to the laws. Iturbide abjectly rejects the proclamation, but one of his companions convinces him not to offend the people. Iturbide then declared that the decision belongs to Congress, which would meet the following day to give a ruling, pleading with the crowd to adhere to order.However, the next day, on May 19, 1822, Congress meets and presents the petition to declare Iturbide as Emperor. The Iturbidistas were present at the session, openly supporting Iturbide, hindering the proceedings of the session, and Iturbide was not present, to create the impression that he wasn’t influencing in any way his proclamation movement.Faced with the passion of the people, Congress summons Iturbide to the session to appease the spirits. Iturbide leaves his residence by carriage, the carriage being intercepted by the people, who drag the vehicle to the Chamber of Congress. With his presence, the session continues, and most of the Congress votes affirmatively to declare it immediately as Emperor, with 15 deputies voting for the motion to first consult the other provinces of the nation, which Iturbide supports. No deputy votes against it, as a result, Iturbide is declared Emperor of Mexico.(Proclamation of Iturbide on May 19, 1822. Anonymous Watercolor. National History Museum. INAH Mexico)(Lithography of the Oath of Iturbide; Constitutional Emperor of Mexico, 1822.)His reign was short-lived due to the political and social instability of the Empire. Iturbide constantly faced Congress, from its creation to its dissolution.The Empire faced Republican opposition, as well as resistance from the Spanish garrison of San Juan de Ulúa.Agustín de Iturbide, now as Constitutional Emperor, assisted by his Council of State, began the open struggle against Congress: his first proposal was to reduce the number of deputies, to get rid of some part of his enemies and thus try to nullify them.After his coronation, commerce and mining slowed down until trust was re-established, although some wealthy peninsular Spaniards, fearing for their safety, preferred to abandon the Empire.Many supporters of the Plan of Iguala, which had been formed by a compromise between conservatives and liberals, were disappointed, so republicanism began to grow rapidly, swelling the ranks of the Scottish Rite Masonic lodges. Iturbide, through infiltrated agents who had been introduced in the lodges and opposition circles, learned of this, and ordered the arrest of deputies, for conspiracy, immediately causing complaints by Congress.These claims were aggravated by the pronouncement in Nuevo Santander (today Tamaulipas) of General Felipe De la Garza, who supported the demands of Congress, for which Iturbide considered the letter as an uprising, ordering De la Garza's arrest.Finally, on October 31, Iturbide issued a decree by which the Constituent Congress was dissolved, under the argument of considering its work "utopian". The president of Congress, Mariano Marín, was given a period of half an hour to evict Congress.After the dissolution of the Constituent Congress, the creation of a new Junta, and the Rebellion of Felipe de la Garza, the policy followed by Iturbide made him antagonize famous regional leaders, one of them being Antonio López de Santa Anna (yes, that Santa Anna), at that time Governor of Veracruz.The Revolution of the Plan of Casa Mata began to take shape, with the support of Republicans and Bourbonists, beginning with the Santa Anna uprising. The plan was made up of eleven articles, its main bases were: the formation of a new Congress - the old deputies could be reelected or replaced, a copy of the plan would be circulated to every army chief; the provincial councils would exercise administrative control of the provinces and it was prohibited to attempt against the life of the Emperor. With the proposal described in the plan to elect new members of Congress, Iturbide's enemies and friends agreed to the call.On March 19, 1823, the Secretary of Justice, Juan Gómez Navarrete, communicated the abdication of Iturbide through a letter:”Once the sovereign Congress was recognized by the Junta and troops adhering to the Plan or Act of Casa Mata, the reason ceased because I kept the force in the vicinity of the capital. I admitted the crown with great reluctance, only to serve the country; But from the moment I saw that its preservation could serve if not as a cause, at least as a pretext for an internal war, I resolved to leave it.!“My presence in the country would always be a pretext for disagreements, and plans that I never thought about would be attributed to me. And to avoid even the remotest suspicions, I will gladly go expatriate and address a strange nation. I will only ask Congress to pay the nation the debts that I have contracted with private friends, which are not of great consideration; Well, even though Congress itself left it up to me to take whatever I needed and the Junta made an assignment for me, I couldn't make use of one or the other when the needs of the troops, employees, and public officials reached my heart.”(Abdication of Emperor Agustín de Iturbide, 1823.)Iturbide was exiled from Mexico, escorted along with his family, as he had requested. Once Iturbide was exiled, the first Congress, already restored, would use the presence of the Iturbidistas in the session of Congress that proclaimed Iturbide Emperor as a reason to say that the deputies feared for his life and therefore voted in favor of Iturbide, declaring void the election on April 7, 1823.Likewise, Congress declared that at no time was there the right to oblige the Mexican nation to submit to any law or treaty, consequently, it considered the Plan of Iguala and the Treaties of Córdoba not subsisting, remaining in absolute freedom to constitute itself in the form of government that best suits the country.Iturbide was awarded an annual pension of 25,000 pesos, on the condition that he establish residence anywhere in Italy. His family would also have the right to the pension that the laws designate in the event of the death of the former emperor.The country was reorganized and culminated with the creation of the First Federal Republic of Mexico in 1824.Conclusion…In my opinion, the First Mexican Empire fell for two very important reasons:Due to the growing social, economic, and political instability of Mexico after its independence.Mexico was devastated by the war with Spain, and disputes between Republicans, Bourbonists, and Royalists were frequent. The Republican armed uprisings that led to the abdication of Iturbide are proof of this. It was a Mexico devastated by war, very politically divided at the beginning, and with the Executive Branch constantly in conflict with the Legislative Branch.For the confrontation between Iturbide and Congress.Iturbide was not an absolutist monarch. As Head of State, he was subject to Congress. Iturbide faced members of Congress from its creation until its dissolution, due to Iturbide's intention to dissolve it, and to the conspiracy of members of Congress to carry out a coup against Iturbide.In conclusion, Iturbide and the First Empire are currently somewhat controversial issues in Mexico.On one hand, Iturbide somehow managed to lead the conciliation between the multiple factions that existed before independence, leading a unified army with a concrete plan of government, similar to what the Spanish Constitution of 1812 proposed, with the establishment of constitutionalist monarchism to appease the need for a monarchy in the population, conciliating those who sought an independent government from Spain, and at the same time, preserving the monarchist tradition; Not to mention that he managed to sign with Juan O’Donojú the treaty that consummated the Independence of Mexico. As Santa Anna (another controversial figure) described him at the time, Iturbide was the "most beloved general” and the "most worthy and particularly beloved Emperor."However, on the other hand, he later described him as the one who became "the most unjust despot", "who instead of being a liberator, had become a tyrant." It’s important to mention that Iturbide ordered the arrest of his opposition, dissolved Congress, the legislative body of the nation, possessing certain authoritarian tendencies, worthy of a caudillo as there have been throughout the history of independent Mexico.The First Empire is controversial since the history of Mexico has become very politicized, especially concerning its beginnings.Liberals have a preference to establish Independence Day on September 16, 1810, celebrating Hidalgo's call for insurrection against Spain, while some Conservatives have a preference to establish September 27, 1821, as Independence Day, celebrating the entry of Iturbide and the Trigarante Army to Mexico City.Liberalism in Mexico strongly dominated this political struggle for history, so the current rejection of Iturbide and the First Empire is very present, and is seen as the personal Empire of a national hero who betrayed the country for his benefit, as a shameful chapter in our history that is omitted many times. However, that is another story, and in my opinion, I consider that, despite what happened at that time, the fall of Iturbide and the First Empire was fundamental for the redirection of the country, and therefore, a greater consensus towards the republicanism that we enjoy today in Mexico, and I repeat, that is another story.(Exhibition of the skeleton of Emperor and General Agustín de Iturbide in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City, on the occasion of the celebrations of the bicentennial of the beginning of the Mexico War of Independence. Picture taken after the liturgical celebration held in his honor on September 27, 2010.)ReferencesIndependencia de México. (2020, December 15). Wikipedia, La enciclopedia libre. Retrieved from Independencia de México - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre.Agustín de Iturbide. (2020, December 12). Wikipedia, La enciclopedia libre. Retrieved from Agustín de Iturbide - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre.Levantamiento Iturbidista de Pío Marcha. (2020, May 19). Wikipedia, La enciclopedia libre. Retrieved from Levantamiento Iturbidista de Pío Marcha - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre.Tratados de Córdoba. (2020, December 14). Wikipedia, La enciclopedia libre. Retrieved from Tratados de Córdoba - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre.Primer Imperio Mexicano. (2020, 12 de diciembre). Wikipedia, La enciclopedia libre. Retrieved from https://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Primer_Imperio_Mexicano&oldid=131646301.