India revokes Kashmir’s special status
NEW DELHI — The Indian government said Monday that it was revoking a constitutional provision that had for decades given a unique degree of autonomy to Kashmir, a disputed mountainous region along the India-pakistan border.
In anticipation of the announcement, which many analysts predicted could set off rioting and unrest, India had flooded Kashmir with thousands of extra troops. Indian authorities also evacuated tourists, closed schools and cut off internet service.
For many years, Kashmir has been governed differently than other parts of India, and the government’s decision to revoke parts of Article 370 of the constitution is widely seen as a blow to Kashmir’s special status. India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party, known as the BJP, has deep roots in a Hindu nationalist ideology and one of its campaign promises during the election this year had been removing the special status of Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim.
“Today the BJP has murdered the Constitution of India,” said Ghulam Nabi Azad, a senior leader of the Pakistani protesters express support and solidarity with Indian Kashmiri people Monday after India’s government revoked Kashmir’s special status by a presidential order. Indian National Congress, an opposition party.
The Indian government also said it would support a parliamentary bill to split the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes the Kashmir Valley, into two federal territories — Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a state legislature, and Ladakh, a remote, highaltitude territory, which will be without a legislature.
Amit Shah, the home minister, said the government had the legal authority to change Kashmir’s status. But some analysts said that was not so clear and that the issue would most likely end up before India’s Supreme Court.
A sense of panic has spread across Kashmir as millions of residents woke up Monday to deserted streets. Relatives of Kashmiris who could be reached said that many people were fearful about stepping outside and were waiting in their homes for news about what was going to happen next.
Many Kashmiris had feared the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would either
remove their region’s special status or turn Kashmir into a federally ruled territory.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry condemned the Indian announcement as a violation of U.N. resolutions, saying in a statement Monday that “Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps.”
The Associated Press reported that U.N. Secretary-general Antonio Guterres is very concerned about rising tensions in the Kashmir region and is urging all parties “to exercise restraint.