Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah arrested after Article 370 scrapped
Srinagar: Former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah have been arrested moments after Rajya Sabha passed the “Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill, 2019” by voice vote on Monday evening.
The bill seeks to make Jammu and Kashmir a Union Territory with the legislature and Ladakh Union Territory without legislature.
Sources said, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah were taken to Hari Niwas – a VVIP state guest house in the city. Both the leaders were placed under house arrest late last evening.
Earlier in the day, the Narendra Modi government revoked Article 370 of the Constitution of India that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill 2019 having provisions of 10 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections of upper caste in the state was also passed by the Upper House today.
Participating in a debate in the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that scrapping of Article 370 will benefit all sections of society in Jammu and Kashmir and bring development and check terrorism.
Shah stated that Article 370 was meant to be temporary but the previous governments did not dare to remove it due to vote bank politics.
In a series of tweets, Mehbooba Mufti had come down heavily on the Modi government for scrapping J&K’s special status.
The abrogation of Article 370 hasn’t just made accession null & void but also reduces India to an occupation force in Jammu and Kashmir. https://t.co/PS6JxYhSaI
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) August 5, 2019
Today the people of Jammu & Kashmir who reposed their faith in institutions of India like parliament & Supreme Court feel defeated & betrayed. By dismembering the state & fraudulently taking away what is rightfully & legally ours, they have further complicated the Kashmir dispute
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) August 5, 2019
Also Read: Article 370 And 35(A) Revoked: What Would Be The Changes In Kashmir
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