In a landmark day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, Home minister Amit Shah today announced in Parliament that Jammu and Kashmir would be split into two Union Territories – Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Shah said that while Ladakh would be a UT without legislature, Jammu and Kashmir would have a legislature.
Amit Shah said that the decision had been taken in view of the prevailing internal security situation, cross border terrorism in the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Home minister said that the people of Ladakh had been demanding the status of a Union Territory for a long time. “There has been a long pending demand of people of Ladakh, to give it the status of a Union Territory to enable them to realise their aspirations. The Union Territory of Ladakh will be without Legislature,” Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. (Live updates)
In the Upper House, Amit Shah also moved a resolution for the abrogation of all clauses of Article 370 from Indian Constitution, barring Section 1. Article 370 provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
On Monday morning, Section 144 CrPc had been imposed in Srinagar. A number of mainstream Jammu and Kashmir leaders – Nationalist Conference leader Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah – were placed under house arrest.