Political slugfest in J&K marks 4 yrs without 370

Leaders of Kashmiri political parties hit out at the Union government on Saturday for the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, while the lieutenant governor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders said people in the region were much better off — the two sides sparring on the day that marked four years since Article 370 was withdrawn.

- Mir Ehsan and Ravi Krishan Khajuria

Security was stepped up in the state, the Amarnath Yatra called off, and forces were engaged with militants in at least two locations as the symbolism of the anniversary put the state on edge, especially at a time when the Supreme Court (SC) is hearing the legality of the August 5, 2019, decision by the Narendra Modi government to rescind the special constitutional protections.

“I’ve been put under house arrest along with other senior PDP leaders today. This comes after a midnight crackdown where scores of my party men are illegally detained in police stations. GOIs false claims about normalcy to the SC stands exposed by theirs actions driven by paranoia,” said Peoples Democratic Party (PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, in a post on the social media service X (formerly Twitter), where she also posted pictures of her locked house entry.

J&K L-G Manoj Sinha said the decision four years ago — when the Union government removed the special protections to the region under Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two Union territories — has laid a new foundation for growth and prosperity.

“On August 5, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended the discriminatory system which harboured separatism and nepotism. He ushered sustained peace, dignity, security, equal access to resources for new aspirations, new resolutions for J&K’s glorious future,” he said.