Wednesday, the August 5, marks the completion of one year of the abrogation of special status of erstwhile J&K state.
The central government last year on August 5 scrapped the special constitutional position of J&K and downgraded the erstwhile state into two Union Territories viz. J&K and Ladakh.Except BJP, no other political party has announced any celebration on the first anniversary of the annulment of Article 370 on Wednesday.
On Monday evening, the administration announced a two-day curfew for August 4 and 5 in Srinagar as a precautionary measure against possible unrest on Wednesday, the first anniversary of the annulment of Articles 370 and 35A by the Centre.
The move on August 5 last year had paved the way for the reorganization of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
15 Corps Commander Lt Gen B S Raju and Director General of Police held a security review meeting on Monday in view of the “intelligence inputs received about the possible safety threats”.
Article 370
This article gave the erstwhile state of J&K special constitutional position in the union of India. Article 35A empowered the state government to define permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir State. As a result of this provision, citizens from other states could not purchase immovable property in Jammu & Kashmir.
What Happened Last Year
The President of India issued an order under Article 370 overriding the then prevailing 1954 Presidential order nullifying all the provisions of autonomy the erstwhile state enjoyed.
The Union Home Minister introduced a Reorganisation Bill in the Parliament, seeking to divide J&K into two UTs.
The resolution seeking the revocation of the special status under Article 370 and the bill for the state’s reorganisation was debated and passed by the Rajya Sabha -upper house of the Parliament on 5 August 2019. On 6 August, the Lok Sabha – the lower house of the Parliament – debated and passed the reorganisation bill.
Situation on ground
On August 5 last year, curfew was imposed and all communication links were snapped in J&K. In Srinagar, only a few routes, such as the airport road and the way to key hospitals, were open.
Hundreds of people including political leaders and activists were arrested in around a week before revocation of the special status. Among those arrested included three former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
Mehbooba Mufti continues to remain detained under Public Safety Act. Scores of other people mostly youth are still in jails in J&K and other state.
Earlier, in the last week of July last year government called off the annual Amarnath Yatra ahead of time and ordered yatris and tourists to leave the Valley immediately citing Army inputs that “militants were planning an attack on the yatra”.
A series of government orders leaked earlier had caused panic in the Valley. On 28 July 2019, a Divisional Security Commissioner of Railways in the Valley had asked officials to store ration for four months, not keep their family in Kashmir and to restrict staff leave due to “emergency situations”.
On the same day, another order by police had asked its officers in Srinagar to “provide details of mosques and their management…” On 30 July 2019, then Governor Satya Pal Malik had however, said: “None of the orders being shown are valid, there is a lot of rumour mongering here.”
Security build-up
The government increased security build-up in the state. On 25 July 2019, the centre deployed 100 companies of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces in Kashmir. On August 1, around 25,000 more paramilitary men were moved to Valley. Next day about 8,000 paramilitary troops were airlifted to Kashmir from Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and other parts of the country.
Mobile phone service
The mobile telephones services which were snapped on 4 August 2019 night were restored on 14 October. The communication remained snapped for over 70 days after the Kashmir was put under an unprecedented lockdown and all communication lines were snapped. The high speed internet service still remains to be restored in the Valley.