Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh will now be two separate Union Territories

• The state of Jammu and Kashmir no longer has a ‘special status’ in the Indian constitution.
• Ladakh will be a Union Territory (UT) without an assembly and Jammu and Kashmir will be a second UT with an assembly.
• The state’s former chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti — currently under house arrest — stated that India is ‘terrorising its people’.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir will no longer have a ‘special status’ in India with Article 370 and Article 35A being scrapped by Presidential Order.

With both articles abolished, the ‘state’ of Jammu and Kashmir no longer exists. It is bifurcated into two parts — the union territory (UT) of Ladakh without an assembly, and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir with an assembly.

Union territories are governed directly by the central government, hence earning them the name. States, on the other hand are administrative units, and have their own governments.

Article 370 made the provision for the state to have its own constitution. Article 35A, based on Article 370, allowed the state to choose its permanent residents, provisions to government posts and governing property rights.

India’s current ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has made no secret of its opposition to it, in both of its election manifestos.



Prior to the announcement, Kashmir’s former chief ministers — Mebooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah — were placed under house arrest. So was People’s Conference chief Sajjad Lone.

After the chaos in the Rajya Sabha and the disclosure of the Presidential Order, Mufti tweeted that the government of India only want to take the territory by ‘terrorising its people’.


Abdullah also expressed his outrage in calling the government's actions a 'total betrayal of trust' which may have 'far reaching and dangerous consequences'.

See also:
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