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On August 5th, the government of India revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
Essentially, with a rushed bill that passed Indian parliament, Jammu and Kashmir’s constitution was revoked and they were returned as fully-fledged parts of India subject to its own constitution.
MK Stalin, DMK President: Without consulting people of Jammu and Kashmir, Article 370 has been taken away. Democracy has been murdered. AIADMK is also supporting the decision which is condemnable. pic.twitter.com/mnMbGMJGjv
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
The accepted bill is the following:
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In parliament, Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah announced the action amid strong opposition by members of the Congress party.
HM Amit Shah: This is not the first time, Congress in 1952 and 1962 amended article 370 through similar process. So instead of protesting please let me speak and have a discussion, all your doubts and misunderstandings will be cleared, I am ready to answer all your questions. pic.twitter.com/jUcoLvbNFN
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
He said that the president had signed a decree abolishing Article 370 of the constitution that gave special autonomy to the Muslim-majority Himalayan region.
Article 370 of the constitution forbid Indians outside the state from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs and securing education scholarships.
Shah said the government also decided to split the state into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature, and Ladakh, which will be ruled directly by the central government without a legislature of its own.
HM Amit Shah: Jammu and Kashmir to be a union territory with legislature and Ladakh to be union territory without legislature pic.twitter.com/nsEL5Lr15h
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
A member of Parliament in Jammu and Kashmir – Mir Mohammad Fayaz, tore up the Indian constitution in sign of protest.
Copy of the Indian Constitution torn in Rajya Sabha today by PDP MP Mir Mohammad Fayaz. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu directed him to leave the House after this incident. pic.twitter.com/Mq1p9Nuovu
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
Omar Abdullah, Vice-President of National Conference and former Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir released a statement on the decision to revoke Article 370, expressing his discontent and saying that the decision was made unilaterally and there would be a “long and tough battle.”
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The news was well-accepted by representatives of Ladakh, but that was no surprise.
Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, BJP MP from Ladakh: I welcome the Bill on behalf of everyone in Ladakh. People there wanted the region to be a Union Territory. People in Ladakh wanted that the region be freed from the dominance & discrimination of Kashmir, that is happening today. pic.twitter.com/02LiyBlEa3
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
Following the government decisions, the Indian Army was put on high alert.
Close to 8,000 paramilitary troops airlifted and moved in from Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and other parts of the country to the Kashmir valley, with the deployment still not finalized.
Close to 8,000 paramilitary troops airlifted and moved in from Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and other parts of the country to the Kashmir valley. Troops induction still going on. pic.twitter.com/9y4P8RlBuT
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
Jammu and Kashmir are under Section 144, which is a sort of state of emergency and there is a curfew imposed.
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
The decision was probably made earlier, since India ordered the Amarnath yatra pilgrims to leave Kashmir, as well as ordered the deployment of more troops two days earlier citing an unclear threat from Pakistan.
“The threat turned out to be true with Pakistan’s notorious Border Action Team (BAT) which tried to infiltrate Kashmir and attack a forward post along the LoC in Keran sector. The Indian Army managed to foil the attempt to infiltrate, killing five to seven intruders,” Indian media reported.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office denied Indian claims that Pakistan has launched action across the LoC to target Indian security forces.
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs said it was prepared to put all states on high alert, thus it is expecting a sharp response to the action.
Ministry of Home Affairs issues an order to Chief Secretaries & Director Generals of Police (DGPs) of all state/UTs and Commissioner of Police, Delhi that immediate instruction may be issued to security forces & law enforcement agencies in all states to put them on maximum alert pic.twitter.com/LRyMhCoRbU
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
Pakistan immediately expressed its condemnation of India’s actions, saying that it would undertake all possible actions to counteract.
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Article 370: As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps. Pakistan reaffirms its abiding commitment to the Kashmir cause.
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the “irresponsible, unilateral and irrational behavior” by India in the disputed Kashmir territory, with the country’s top civilian and military leaderships warning New Delhi’s crackdown was destabilizing the region.
“PM [Khan] invited attention of world leaders and international bodies towards irresponsible, unilateral and irrational behavior of Indian leadership,” said a Pakistani government statement.
“The recent Indian measures will increase the levels of violence and turn this area into a flashpoint and a destabilizing factor in the midst of two strategically capable neighboring countries,” it said.
“Pakistan remains ready to defend itself against any Indian misadventure or aggression and will continue to provide all out diplomatic, moral and political support to the brave people of [Indian-administered Kashmir] in their indigenous struggle to get justice and their right to self-determination in line with [United Nations Security Council] resolutions.”
India’s decision was reportedly made to create a room for an increase of security measrues to put an end to the terrorist activity in the area. At the same time, it creates a possibility of escalation in Kashmir.
Pakistan has been lobbying for a while at the UN and Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) against the alleged crackdown by Indian forces in the region.
On August 3rd, it condemned the alleged use of “cluster munitions” by Indian security forces in firing across the Line of Control, the de facto border between India-administered and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and said at least six civilians had been killed and 48 wounded in Indian firing since July 19.
India, on its part also accuses Pakistan of continuously and frequently violating the 2003 ceasefire.
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LOL. This guy’s name really is Stalin.
“Stalin found Russia to be using wooden plow and left it a nuclear superpower” W. Churchill
Or yeah! Could you please be so kind and show me when does Churchill said it?
What you dont know how to google things?
https://www.politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16528
Indian government BJP should restrain from human right violations on Muslims in Kashmir and in other parts of India. The Kashmir issue is suspended since 1947. It can be solved if both countries leaders come together and think about unification of India with Pakistan. After unification the entire country should be renamed to Pakistan but at least Kashmir will get some releaf.
War in or on Kashmir is not a solution. Without discrimination of colour, religion and language both nations are same and wonderful people. Both have Compassion for each other on human loses. India and Pakistan both should restrain from war. War is not a solution of any problem. War is an indication of mental issues. It is time to take out both Pakistan and India from current chaos.
Pakistan must give up its dream of snatching the Indian part of Kashmir from India. Special Status was designed as a temporary measure during Partition, not a permanent separate nation. Get over it.
i wish they would stop and realize who the real troublemakers in this world are, and unite against them
Am I that far of the mark when I say that Kashmir is to Hindu India what Kosovo is to Serbia? Some sort of ancestral or cultural homeland, that despite no longer being majority Hindu still holds a special place to Indian Hindus?
It is like Idlib, the Turks moved in to help their MB buddy’s and moved the Syrian locals out. The Maharaja in 1947 moved it into India because of Pakistani attacks. After the referendum in 1953, and its Constitution in 1957, defined it as Indian. In the 80’s the Wahhabi backed jihadists did major ethnic cleaning, creating today’s situation where it has become majority Muslim. India, like Syria can not afford to loose its water supply.
Ah, it’s water related, that makes sense too.