- Pakistan summons joint parliamentary session after India revokes Article 370
ISLAMABAD, August 5: Pakistan strongly condemned and rejects the announcement made on Monday by the Indian Government regarding the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
The Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory.
No unilateral step by the Government of India can change this disputed status, as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. Nor will this ever be acceptable to the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan.
As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps.
Pakistan reaffirms its abiding commitment to the Kashmir cause and its political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.
In India, the BJP government has revoked Article 370 of the constitution through a presidential order, ending the special status given to state of Occupied Kashmir.
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind issued the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order 2019 today, which has superseded the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order 1954.
Under the order, the special status of Jammu and Kashmir has been abolished and it has been made a Union Territory under the Indian Federation.
Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution guarantee special status and special rights to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and all powers, except defence, foreign affairs, and communication, rest with the State Legislature.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah told the Upper House of the parliament Rajiya Sabha that Jammu and Kashmir is now a Union Territory with legislature, and it is no more a State. He also announced that Ladakh will also be union territory without legislature.
Amit Shah also announced that Jammu and Kashmir would be re-organized geographically. Rajiya Sabha witnessed complete rumpus as Amit Shah made the announcement and the opposition benches strongly resisted the move.
Leader of the Opposition from Occupied Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad denounced the move and said that Jammu and Kashmir is already under a state of curfew and all political leaders have been put under house arrest.
Ghulam Nabi Azad said there is a war like situation in Occupied Kashmir. The entire Kashmiri leadership has taken a serious view of the Indian government’s move and described it a usurpation of the rights of the people of Occupied Kashmir.-DNA
President Dr Arif Alvi summoned a joint session of the Parliament today, after the Indian government rushed through a presidential decree on Monday to abolish Article 370 of the Constitution which granted special status to Indian-occupied Kashmir.
The joint sitting, to be held at 11am will review the tense situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir and along the Line of Control after the Modi government confirmed it had deployed at least 10,000 troops in the disputed region last week. A further 70,000 troops have been deployed since, according to unofficial reports, as panic grips the residents.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the resolution to scarp Article 370 in Rajya Sabha, which revoked the special status granted to occupied Kashmir and made the state a Union Territory with the legislature. The announcement sparked chaotic scenes in the Indian parliament, with opposition politicians shouting protests, and the Congress describing the decision as a “catastrophic step”.-DNA/Agencies
