Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday proposed in the Rajya Sabha that Article 370(1) and Article 35(A)of the Constitution will be revoked. Article 370 gives special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and Article 35A allows the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to state who are permanent residents of the state. The announcement was made amid an unprecedented lockdown and flaring tensions in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The day it's published in Gazette from then onward 370(1) will not be in place,” Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha, even as members of the opposition protested. This is the Gazette notification released by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, which has been signed by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind:
Constitution(application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order 2019 pic.twitter.com/ueZWl8VU59
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
With this, all provisions of Indian Constitution as amended from time to time will apply to Jammu and Kashmir and the references to Sadar-i-Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir shall be construed as references to the Governor.
The Union Home Minister also moved a Bill to give the status of a Union Territory to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Amit Shah stated that Jammu and Kashmir will be a Union Territory with legislature and Ladakh will be a Union Territory without legislature.
Breaking;
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) August 5, 2019
Jammu & Kashmir to be a Union Territory with Legislature and Ladakh to be a Union Territory without Legislature. pic.twitter.com/ZLBWWWAO7n
Amit Shah’s announcement in the Rajya Sabha comes after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met on Monday morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval were present at the meeting held at the PM's residence.Their meeting was preceded by another meeting that started an hour earlier in which Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was also present. The CCS meeting that included Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lasted for 40 minutes. It concluded before the Union Cabinet met that included Nitin Gadkari. Sources said that the committee discussed issues of internal security in the Valley.
The meeting comes after political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir including former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference chairman Sajad Lone, were placed under house arrest as strict restrictions were imposed in the Kashmir Valley from early Monday morning.
Responding to the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called it "the darkest day in Indian democracy."
Today marks the darkest day in Indian democracy. Decision of J&K leadership to reject 2 nation theory in 1947 & align with India has backfired. Unilateral decision of GOI to scrap Article 370 is illegal & unconstitutional which will make India an occupational force in J&K.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) August 5, 2019
It will have catastrophic consequences for the subcontinent. GOIs intentions are clear. They want the territory of J&K by terrorising it’s people. India has failed Kashmir in keeping its promises.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) August 5, 2019
Shortly after the Bill was moved, around 8,000 paramilitary troops were airlifted and moved in from Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and other parts of the country to the Kashmir valley. Troops induction still going on, reported ANI.
On Sunday night, Section 144 was imposed in Srinagar, as well as in Jammu and mobile Internet services have also been suspended. Heavy deployments of local police, along with contingents of paramilitary forces, were in place and all universities in the Valley have ordered the cancellation of classes, work and exams scheduled on Monday without announcing any future dates for the same. Mobile internet facility was snapped across the state and even the call facility was cut, with officials stating that this was being done to prevent anti-social elements from spreading rumours.
(With IANS inputs)