Art 370 scrapped; J&K bifurcated
New Delhi: Article 370 of the Constitution, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has been abolished by a presidential order that would come into force "at once", Home Minister Amit Shah said in parliament Monday, announcing the most far-reaching move on the state in nearly seven decades.
The announcement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting of his cabinet at his house Monday morning. Amit Shah also introduced a bill to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, which was passed in the Rajya Sabha. Gearing up for any trouble in the state after the announcement, the centre moved 8,000 paramilitary troops from different parts of the country to Kashmir, in addition to nearly 35,000 personnel moved in the past week.
In a proposed law, which has cleared the Rajya Sabha and will need the Lok Sabha's approval, Jammu and Kashmir will cease to be a state and become two union territories with two Lieutenant Governors. Ladakh will be a Union Territory without a legislature and Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature.
The government's huge step followed a massive build-up of troops in the sensitive Kashmir Valley and a night where senior leaders including former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were placed under house arrest. Internet and phone lines were forced out of service in parts of Jammu and Kashmir. All educational institutions and offices are closed and groups have been banned from gathering in Kashmir and Jammu.
Thousands of paramilitary troops were sent to Kashmir last week after the government said it was cancelling the Amarnath Yatra, an annual pilgrimage, and asked tourists and outsiders to leave the state.
Rajya Sabha on Monday approved a resolution abrogating Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir and a bill to bifurcate the state into two union territories with Home Minister Amit Shah saying the controversial provisions were responsible for poverty and lack of development in the state.
Allaying opposition fears of all hell breaking loose after the move, Shah replied, "nothing will happen" and it won't be allowed to turn into another battle-torn Kosovo.
"It was heaven on earth and will remain so," he said replying to the debate on the resolution and the bill which were taken up together.
He said full statehood will be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at "appropriate time" and after "normalcy" returns.
"Article 370 is the biggest hurdle to normalcy in the state," he said adding his government was committed to making Jammu and Kashmir the most developed state in the country.
Terrorism, he said, cannot be eliminated from the state until Article 370 and 35A are in existence.
The two articles of the Constitution, which give Jammu and Kashmir a special status and does not allow all laws of India to be applicable to the state, have hindered development and bred corruption, he said.
Shah said the rule of three families in the state during their 70 years since Independence did not allow democracy to percolate and it bred corruption.
Rajya Sabha approved a bill to extend 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker sections in the state as well as the resolution on abrogating Article 370 by voice vote.
TMC, which vehemently opposed the resolution, walked out before Shah began to reply to the debate on it.
However, the bill to bifurcate the state was approved by 125 votes in favour and 61 against it. One member abstained.
Opposition BSP, BJD, AIADMK and YSR-Congress voted in favour of the bill.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the nation on Wednesday to explain his government's landmark move to redefine and reorganize the state of Jammu and Kashmir after Parliament.
