The Supreme Court of India on Monday ratified the 2019 decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status as a region with its own constitution and separate protections on land and jobs. The five-judge constitutional bench ruled that the territory’s special status had been only a “temporary provision” and scrapping it was constitutionally valid. The region was divided into two federal territories, and now Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir are directly administered by the central government without a legislature of their own.
Chief Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud noted that the government has promised to restore Jammu-Kashmir’s statehood and ordered local legislative polls by next Sept. 30. This move is expected to benefit the governing BJP in national elections next year. Meanwhile, Kashmiri politicians, who had petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse the decision, have expressed disappointment. The 1948 UN resolution calling for a referendum to decide between India and Pakistan control in Kashmir was never implemented, ultimately leading to increased Kashmiri unrest.
The decision to validate the move had been made by New Delhi in 2019, assuming that no public opinion was needed. The majority of Muslim Kashmir residents view the changes in the region’s governance as an annexation that was designed to alter the region’s demographic makeup. Members of minority Hindu and Buddhist communities initially welcomed the move but have later expressed fears of losing their land and jobs. In New Delhi’s efforts to reshape and integrate the land into the rest of the country, many civil liberties in the region have been curbed and authorities have shown no tolerance for any form of dissent.