The Indian government on Monday canceled the special status of Kashmir in an effort to integrate its only Muslim-majority region with the rest of the country into the biggest move on the disputed Himalayan region for nearly 70 years amid Pakistani denunciation.
Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah told parliament that the federal government would repeal Article 370 of the constitution, which gives special status to the disputed Kashmir region, and allow India-controlled Jammu and Kashmir to lay down its own laws. "The entire constitution will be applied to the state of Jammu and Kashmir," he said, ending the state's rights to enact laws of its own. The Indian president acknowledged the changes made by the government.
The move would also mean lifting the ban on people from outside the state from buying property there. Such plans have in the past raised warnings of a backlash in Kashmir, disputed by India and Pakistan.
Under the special situation, government jobs in the state were also reserved for its population, as well as university opportunities to prevent the flow of people from the rest of India to the state.
Authorities in Indian Kashmir have imposed a ban on public gatherings and closed schools in major cities and surrounding areas, amid renewed tension between New Delhi and Islamabad, which are fighting for control of the territory.
The authorities announced in a statement that they imposed a "total ban on gatherings and public meetings" in Srinagar and its environs, and ordered the closure of schools and universities in Jammu state until further notice.
Indian authorities in Kashmir have imposed several security measures, including the call to store food and fuel, because of information about terrorist threats.
On the other hand, Pakistan considered yesterday, the cancellation of India's constitutional autonomy of the Indian state of Kashmir, an "illegal", asserting that the region, which calls for the sovereignty of Islamabad, recognized internationally as disputed territory.
Authorities in Indian Kashmir have imposed a ban on public gatherings and closed schools in major cities in the province.