Pakistan condemns revocation of special status for India-controlled Kashmir

NEW DELHI - The Indian government on Monday revoked India-controlled Kashmir's special status, stripping the significant autonomy it has enjoyed for seven decades in a move expected to further inflame tensions in the Muslim-majority region and infuriate Pakistan, which controls another portion of Kashmir.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist party rushed through a presidential decree to scrap the disputed region's special status in the constitution, and also introduced a bill proposing the territory be divided into two regions directly ruled by New Delhi.

Pakistan said on Monday it "strongly condemns" India's decision to revoke the special status for its portion of the region claimed by both countries. "As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Indian government imposed a security lockdown and cut all telecommunications in its part of the region in the early hours of Monday after deploying tens of thousands of troops in the past week, claiming there was a terror threat.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, a close ally of Modi, told Parliament that the president had issued a decree abolishing Article 370 of Indian Constitution, which gives special autonomy to the region. The decree said the measure came into force "at once".

As per Article 370, not all provisions laid down in the Indian Constitution have applied in Kashmir. Except for areas such as defense, foreign affairs, finance and communications, Parliament needs the local Kashmir government's agreement for the enforcement of other laws.

Kashmir has been divided between Indian and Pakistan since their independence from the United Kingdom in 1947.

There were already growing fears among Kashmiris that the special status would be ditched after Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, obtained a large parliamentary majority in elections earlier this year.

His party had vowed to fulfill a long-held promise to scrap the laws, and many fear New Delhi wants to change the region's demographics by allowing non-Kashmiris, mostly Hindus, to buy land locally.

BJP's political opponents in India-controlled Kashmir have opposed the attempt to scrap Article 370.

The move is set to deepen the long-running animosity with Pakistan which has fought two out of three wars with India over the territory.

"There will (be) a very strong reaction in Kashmir. It's already in a state of unrest and this will only make it worse," said Wajahat Habibullah, a former Indian official.

Agencies - Xinhua

(China Daily 08/06/2019 page11)