No question of restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s special status: Modi

KARACHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said no power in the world can restore Jammu and Kashmir’s partial autonomy, which was cancelled in August 2019 by his Hindu nationalist government.

Speaking at a public meeting a day after the newly-elected Jammu and Kashmir alliance’s decision to pass a resolution, despite opposition from BJP members, to call for the restoration of partial autonomy to the region, he said he had “buried the wall of Article 370 in the graveyard”.

Addressing lawmakers from the Indian-occupied territory, Modi said those dreaming of getting Article 370 status restored should be mindful of the fact that the decision to revoke the region’s special status was not an ordinary decision, and no power in the world can undo it.

His remarks came as a heated session erupted in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Thursday when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators protested against the resolution calling for the restoration of partial autonomy to the region.

BJP lawmakers clashed with other legislators before being escorted out by assembly marshals for disrupting proceedings. This unrest followed the newly-elected Jammu and Kashmir alliance’s decision of Wednesday to pass the resolution, despite opposition from BJP members.

While the assembly has voiced its stance, the authority to reinstate Kashmir’s special status rests solely with India’s federal government, which is expected to reject the demand as restoring autonomy has long been opposed by the BJP. New Delhi had cancelled IoK’s special status in 2019, a sudden decision accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long communications blackout. It had been ruled by a governor appointed by New Delhi since. But last month the territory also elected its local legislative assembly, with voters choosing a government in opposition to Modi’s Hindu-nationalist BJP.