Special status ends: J&K now a Union Territory with Assembly; Ladakh a separate UT

Jammu and Kashmir is now a Union Territory with Assembly and Ladakh would be a separate Union Territory with no legislature. Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced J&K reorganisation bill in the Rajya Sabha for restructuring the state.

According to the new bill, Jammu and Kashmir will be reorganised as a Union Territory with an Assembly, and Ladakh would be a separate Union Territory with no legislature. The Union government will have the Law and order powers of policing in the new UTs.

The statement of objects and reasons of the Bill says that the demand for creation of Union Territory of Ladakh has been a long-pending demand of people of Ladakh.

"Further, keeping in view the prevailing internal security situation, fuelled by cross border terrorism in the existing State of Jammu and Kashmir, a separate Union Territory for Jammu and Kashmir is being created. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be with legislature," it read.

This comes as the Modi government scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution today that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bars people from rest of India from buying land in the state.

Now Centre laws would apply in these two union territories. The Law and order power will be the Centre.

Shah moved the amendment amid uproar by opposition members.

Shortly after the Home Minister tabled these documents, President Ram Nath Kovind came out with a notification -- The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 that will come into force immediately.

The Union Territory of Ladakh was a long pending demand of the people of the region and the decision was aimed at fulfilling the aspiration of the local population, Amit Shah said.

The decisions mark a new milestone in the country's politics with the BJP-led government breaking new grounds on issues that have been virtually untouched in last more than 70 years.

The surprise announcement comes at a time when the situation in Jammu and Kashmir continues to be on the edge.

Earlier in the day, government held a series of meeting. A Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, where the PM, Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met at the PM's residence.

This meeting was preceded by another meeting that started an hour earlier in which Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was also present.

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