India Upholds Revocation of Kashmir's Autonomy

The Indian Supreme Court has affirmed the revocation of Kashmir's autonomy, supporting the 2019 decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to abolish the region's special status.

According to the Asian News International (ANI) agency, the Supreme Court upheld the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir as constitutionally valid and called for the conduct of legislative assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024.

The court, in response to the central government's request for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir as a full-fledged state, ordered that it be done as soon as possible.

Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of the Indian Supreme Court, was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying, "Jammu and Kashmir completely surrendered its sovereignty after joining India after independence," noting that the region "ceded its complete sovereignty through accession, and its constitution was only meant to delineate its relationship with India, so its constitution is subservient to India's."

The Indian Supreme Court began hearing petitions challenging the constitutionality of the government's decision to abrogate Article 370 of the country's constitution in early August. Article 370 granted the region a form of self-rule and stripped it of its separate identity, reducing its status from a state to a federal territory.

The Kashmir issue has been the most significant point of contention between Pakistan and India since Islamabad's independence from the Indian subcontinent in 1947.

The border areas between the two countries in Kashmir have witnessed armed conflicts between their forces.

Tensions between Pakistan and India escalated in August 2019 when New Delhi revoked the special status of Kashmir.

According to Article 370 of the Indian constitution, it granted special status to the Jammu and Kashmir region.

The unprecedented move by the government divided the region into two union territories—Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir—both of which are directly governed by the federal government without a separate legislative body. 

Pakistan regarded this as a violation of United Nations resolutions on the issue.