Big Breaking: “Darkest Day in Indian Democracy”, Says Former Kashmir CM

As we had speculatively reported a few days ago, Article 370 has been removed from Kashmir by the Narendra Modi Government which will eventually cut off the “ Special Status” assigned to the state. Amit Shah, the minister of Home Affairs announced the scrapping of Article 370 in the Rajya Sabha today (Aug 5). The announcement has caused an intense argument among the opposition parties.

Article 370 gives the special rights to Kashmir that allows the residents of Jammu and Kashmir live under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians. Reportedly the scrapping of Article 370 had been in the list of BJP motives for more than 5 decades.

Earlier in 2014 election manifesto, BJP had quoted that "the BJP reiterates its stand on the constitution provision and will discuss this with all stakeholders and remains committed to the abrogation of this article”.  The announcement has clearly startled the people of Kashmir including the former Chief Minister of the state, Mehbooba Mufti.

Mehbooba said, “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” (sic) via her twitter space.

While 144 has been imposed on Jammu and Kashmir since midnight, the recent announcement from the centre is more likely to create unrest in the state. However, it looks like the Government of India has taken all the precautionary measures anticipating an uproar post the historical announcement at the Rajya Sabha.

Ram Nath Kovind, the president of India has issued a notification to scrap Article 370. Further Amit Shah’s proposal states, that Jammu and Kashmir will be the Union Territory of India while Ladakh will be a separate Union Territory. Therefore, there will be no self-government for J&K which will be directly governed by the centre.