About 560 public officials and political activists have been detained in India's Jammu and Kashmir state after the central government decided to revoke its special status, local media reported on Thursday
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th August, 2019) About 560 public officials and political activists have been detained in India's Jammu and Kashmir state after the central government decided to revoke its special status, local media reported on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the Indian government announced its decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status, which granted the state a certain degree of autonomy for several decades, and split it in two union territories. One of them, Ladakh, will not be allowed its own legislature, but both will be controlled by the central government. This move prompted clashes on the Indian-Pakistani line of control and forced Islamabad to downgrade its diplomatic relations and suspend trade with its neighbor.
The activists, including former heads of the state Omar Abdullah and Mehbobba Mufti, have been detained and taken to the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center in Srinagar and similar facilities in Baramulla and Gurez, the Hindustan Times reported.
The disputed Kashmir region, the southern part of which is where India's Jammu and Kashmir lies, has been the source of tensions between the two nations since the end of British rule in the region in 1947. After several armed conflicts, both sides agreed to a ceasefire in 2003. Since then, however, accusations of truce violations have been exchanged, with continued instability in the region leading to the emergence of various extremist groups.
