India scraps special status for Kashmir, escalating tensions

Bloomberg

India has revoked the special constitutional status of Kashmir in a move that’s drawn protests in parliament and risks worsening its already fraught security relationship with rival Pakistan in the disputed region.
It took Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government just a couple of hours to erase seven decades of autonomous state government in Kashmir, which analysts say is aimed at integrating a region that has been at centre of its acrimonious relationship with Pakistan.
President Ram Nath Kovind signed the law and Minister for Home Affairs, Amit Shah, announced the government’s plan in parliament soon after. Lawmakers are now debating a proposal to split the state in two — Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
Under Article 370 of the constitution, the state of Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed complete autonomy and the state legislature was free to draft its own laws except in the areas of communications, defense, finance, and foreign affairs, while Indian citizens were prohibited from purchasing land in the state.
It was especially drafted in the 1950s after the kingdom of Kashmir agreed to join the
Indian republic. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had pledged to scrap the article in its electoral manifestos of 2014 and 2019.
“Article 370 should have been revoked much earlier,” Shah said. “But it needed political will. And the Modi government has the political will to do it.”
In the lead up to the controversial step, prominent political leaders in Indian-administered Kashmir were placed under house arrest and the Indian paramilitary forces deployed thousands of extra troops across the valley in one of the most widespread security crackdowns in recent years.
India also evacuated thousands of tourists, students and pilgrims and has reportedly restricted phone and Internet services over the last 48 hours.
The move goes beyond the right to buy land or live in Kashmir, Khalid Shah, Delhi-based fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, said by phone. “It shows that from now on the opinion of people won’t matter. People’s opinion about their own land doesn’t matter,” Shah said. “That’s a scary situation for any democracy. My sense is that this will lead to long term political consequences and will prolong the conflict.”

‘Regional Crisis’
Pakistan PM Imran Khan warned in a tweet that India’s “new aggressive actions” had “the potential to blow up into a regional crisis”.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued a strong condemnation of India’s actions and pledged exercise all possible options to counter what it described as New Delhi’s “illegal steps.” India-controlled Kashmir is an internationally-recognised disputed territory, Pakistan said, and no unilateral step by India can change this.
The Indian Army said it had responded to an increase in cease fire violations and infiltration attempts along the line that divides Indian-controlled and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.