Abrogation of Article 370: A Year in Retrospect
On August 5 last year, BJP fulfilled its long-pending promise of removing barriers to full integration of Jammu & Kashmir with India’s mainland. India de-operationalised Article 370 of its constitution with consummate finesse. It was indeed a masterstroke that left Kashmiri politicians dumbfounded. For them, it was a double whammy, rendering Article 370 redundant and splitting the state into two Union Territories (UT), J&K and Ladakh. People in Ladakh were thrilled on having been ‘rescued’ from the domination of Kashmiri political masters. Ever since the revocation of Article 370, the Valley remains locked-down, initially due to an unprecedented security clampdown and now to protect it from the deadly pandemic. It is time we analyse the post-abrogation scenario. Internal Security Situation. Empirical evidence shows that the insurgency-related incident...