India, Pakistan trade barbs as Kashmir bill is passed

NEW DELHI: India’s government on Tuesday hailed “historic” legislation to bring Kashmir under its direct control, as Pakistan vowed to back the Muslim-majority region and challenge the divisive move which has seen tensions soar.

New Delhi stripped Kashmir of its autonomous status via a presidential decree on Monday, hours ater imposing a massive security lockdown in the restive state to quell any unrest.

On Tuesday, the Parliament approved a resolution ending applicability of Article 370 of the Constitution to bifurcate the state and passed a bill to create two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Ater the bifurcation, Jammu and Kashmir will now be a Union Territory with an Assembly, which Shah was a “temporary” measure and full statehood could be restored ater normalcy returns there.

The bill, providing for bifurcation, was passed with over 350 members voting in its favour, a day ater the Rajya Sabha approved the legislation.

Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah, a powerful aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, compared the decision to other “historic moments” in the nation, adding that the law should be “writen with golden words in Indian history.”

“The great parliament which has expressed its views on unity and integrity of India so many times today is once again going to deliberate on a bill that will go on to further integrate Jammu and Kashmir to India for many generations ahead,” he told parliament.

His declaration came as reports emerged on Tuesday of sporadic protests and at least six people admited to a hospital in the main city Srinagar with gunshot wounds and other injuries, a source at the facility said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed on Tuesday to challenge India’s decision at the UN security council and accused Modi of violating international law in pursuit of an anti-muslim agenda in India.

“If the world does not act today, (if) the developed world does not uphold its own laws, then things will go to a place that we will not be responsible for,” Khan added.

Pakistan’s military added that it “firmly stands” by Kashmiris following a meeting by the army’s top commanders in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Earlier, national security adviser Ajit Doval said in a report to his department that there was “peace and normalcy” and “no agitation” in Kashmir ater the announcement, local media reported.

But with mobile and internet shut down and Kashmir virtually cut off from the outside world since the early hours of Monday, there was limited news emerging from the region.

India has also sought to clamp down on other sources of dissent, with three Kashmir political leaders detained ater a court order seen by AFP on Tuesday said they had engaged in activities “likely to cause breach of peace” and lead to a “serious law and order situation.”

Initially placed under house arrest at the weekend, former chief ministers Mehbooba Muti and Omar Abdullah along with regional party leader Sajad Lone were reportedly then taken to an official guest house on Monday.

The court order also said authorities feared the trio could organise a public rally which is currently banned in Kashmir as part of the emergency lockdown.

Criticism mounted from opposition politicians on Tuesday, with Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slamming the “abuse of executive power” in Jammu-kashmir by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“The move would have grave implications for India’s national security,” he said.

“This nation is made by its people, not plots of land,” he tweeted, spelling out what the party line would be going forward.

“National integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution. This nation is made by its people, not plots of land,” he said.

On Tuesday, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, incurred the wrath of Sonia Gandhi for saying that Kashmir is not an internal issue of the country.

He said: “You say that it is an internal matter. But it is being monitored since 1948 by the UN. Is that an internal mater? We signed the Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration. Was that an internal mater or bilateral.”

A traveller who arrived in India’s capital New Delhi on Tuesday from Srinagar said on condition of anonymity that he had heard “intermitent gunfire” and other weapons since Monday.

He said he heard soldiers shouting during the night, while government troops were deployed at “every five steps.”

“My car was checked at least 25 times on the way to the airport and it took me almost four hours to cover a distance of hardly 30 minutes,” he said.