In an unprecedented move, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah has proposed the removal of Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Along with this, it has also been proposed to bifurcate the state into two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature, and Ladakh, which will be without a legislature. This announcement was first made in the Rajya Sabha .

This move came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a crucial Cabinet meeting at his 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence along with the other members of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

Last night, political leaders including Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah and Sajad Lone, were put under house arrest while Army personnel were deployed on the streets of Kashmir. The government also imposed restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC in Srinagar district that came into effect on Sunday midnight. Schools and colleges in Jammu, Kishtwar, Rezai, Doda and Udhampur districts were also ordered to remain closed on Monday.

Over 35,000 additional troops were moved in the state in the days before the announcement even as the administration called off the Amarnath Yatra in an unprecedented move. It also asked all tourists to leave the state immediately. Mobile internet has been suspended in the Valley while restrictions and night curfews were imposed in several districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Former J&K chief ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have deemed the govt’s move of removing Article 370 as a betrayal of trust of the people of the Valley, a move which will have ‘far reaching and dangerous’ consequences.While opposition parties have opposed this move, the BJP-led government has received support by Shiv Sena, Aam Aadmi Party, BJD and AIADMK to name a few.