The map of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) has been redrawn; the special status the Constitution provided the state withdrawn. The official line is that these measures will ensure the state’s complete integration into India and usher a new era of peace, growth, and prosperity.
Several opposition parties have bought into this, while others have confined their reservations to the procedural aspects of the decision—suggesting that they endorse the government’s moves in principle and only find the manner of their execution exceptionable. Few have questioned the merit of the re-organization or withdrawal of special status itself.
The rushed and hushed manner in which the proposals were pushed through is disconcerting. The lack of consultation with the local populace, the military build-up, communication blackout, the political detentions in the run-up to the announcements, and a clever interpretation of prevailing constitutional provisions have been much commented upon already.