The Indian government made a landmark announcement yesterday as it repealed Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir, which gave the state special status. In combination, Article 35A was also revoked, which meant sweeping changes in the area.
Now Jammu & Kashmir have become Union Territory with its own legislature and Ladakh has also been carved out as a union territory as well, which will be controlled by the center. Now the former state which had its own constitution, own flag, own set of rules and didn’t adhere to rulings of Supreme Court of India, has become completely a part of the Indian union.
Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India, tabled the resolution of repealing the article 370 and the whole country went abuzz. Similarly, reactions came from our neighbors Pakistan, who refused to acknowledge the ruling of the Indian government and continue on their stance of saying that the whole Kashmir is theirs and that they will continue to maintain their hold on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi hit out at the United Nations (UN) for its silence and urged the President of the United States, Donald Trump to intervene., saying, “Kashmiris must be given their due rights as per #UN resolution. The rights of Freedom like all of us. Why was @UN created & why is it sleeping? The unprovoked aggression & crimes being committed in Kashmir against #Humanity must be noted. The @POTUS must play his role to mediate.”
To this, Gautam Gambhir, who has had a long-lasting rivalry with Afridi, both on and off the field; took a massive dig at the former Pak captain and said, “@SAfridiOfficial is spot on guys. There is “unprovoked aggression”, there r “crimes against humanity”. He shud be lauded for bringing this up. Only thing is he forgot to mention that all this is happening in “Pakistan Occupied Kashmir”. Don’t worry, will sort it out son!!!”
Shortly after Home Minister Amit Shah tabled the resolution in Rajya Sabha, President Ram Nath Kovind came out with a notification -- The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 that came into force immediately.
