Face of Nation : Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is among those placed under house arrest, has hit out at the government after Article 370 of the constitution, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was removed by a presidential order today. Terming the government’s intention “sinister”, she said the government wants to change the demography of Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir will be reorganised and will no longer be a state, Home Minister Amit Shah said today in parliament, after announcing that Article 370 granting special status to the state under the constitution would be scrapped. Ladakh will be a Union Territory without an assembly and Jammu and Kashmir will be a Union Territory with an assembly, under the proposal. There will be two Lieutenant Governors.
Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah and Sajad Lone, the three most prominent politicians from Jammu and Kashmir, were placed under house arrest after midnight on Sunday in an unprecedented lockdown that follows a massive security build-up and a first-ever government advisory asking Amarnath pilgrims and tourists to leave Kashmir immediately.
In a series of tweets after the government’s notification, Ms Mufti said she is not being allowed to have visitors. “Not sure how long I’ll be able to communicate. Is this the India we acceded to?” she wrote. Mobile internet and phone connections have been blocked in many places and public meetings or rallies have been banned in Srinagar and parts of the state.
