Indian security take shelter in front of closed shops as stranded tourists walk in the rain during a security lockdown in Jammu on Monday. Channi Anand/APIndia’s government announced on Monday changes to the way Indian-controlled Kashmir is administered, scrapping provisions giving the region special status and proposing measures to increase Delhi’s authority across the territory.
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah announced measures to revoke a provision known as Article 370.
In place since 1949, Article 370 gives the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir — which includes Indian-controlled Kashmir — the power to have its own constitution, flag and autonomy over all matters except foreign affairs, defense and communications.
In addition, Shah said the government would move to modify Jammu and Kashmir’s position in the Indian constitutional system. Currently classed as a state, it would become what under India’s constitutional rules is known as a union territory — a step that would give the government in Delhi greater control over its affairs.
In the Indian system, state governments retain significant power over local matters. But the central government in Delhi has more of a say in the affairs of a union territory. The remote mountainous region of Ladakh, currently part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, would be separated and turned into a standalone union territory, the government said.