EFSAS comments on India scrapping the special status of Jammu & Kashmir
August 9, 2019
As for democracy, all accepted norms and practices were thrown to the wolves. The decision was taken at a time when the state of J&K was placed under President’s rule, the state’s Assembly had been dissolved, and an appointed representative of the central government, the Governor, held sway. All major political leaders of Kashmir were rounded up by Indian security forces a couple of days prior to announcement of the decision. The Indian parliament was not even informed prior to the government’s decision to strip a state of the autonomy that it had been promised and constitutionally assured. Equally importantly, the state of J&K was, without any reference to the people of the state, bifurcated into two Union Territories to be governed from New Delhi.
