India’s Supreme Court on Friday is scheduled to conduct a hearing on petitions challenging Narendra Modi government’s decision to strip Kashmir of its special status as the United Nations Security Council is reported to have agreed to hold a “closed door” discussion on the matter upon a request by China.
The Indian Government, on August 5, repealed a constitutional provision that accorded a special status to the state of Jammu & Kashmir, stripping it of the special powers to enact its own laws and removing restrictions on people from other parts of India to secure government jobs and buy land in the state.
Multiple petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court against the decision and the court is scheduled to hear the one filed by a lawyer, ML Sharma.
Mr Sharma has argued in the petition that the presidential order had been passed without the consent of the Jammu & Kashmir state legislative assembly and claimed that made the move to repeal Article 370 illegal.
In another petition scheduled to be heard by the court on Friday, Anuradha Bhasin, the editor of Kashmir Times newspaper has asked for immediate lifting of restrictions on freedom of movement of journalists and media persons in Jammu and Kashmir.
Ms Bhasin has said in the petition that since a day before the announcement on Kashmir, all internet and electronic communication had been shut down, leaving the Kashmir valley completely isolated.
Earlier this week, the court had refused to interfere over the restrictions imposed in Kashmir after the government of India said the curbs had been put in place in order to prevent the situation from deteriorating.
“In cases like these, all pros and cons have to be considered. Who will be responsible if something really bad happens tomorrow?" said Justice MR Shah.
UN Security Council to discuss Kashmir
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to discuss the removal of the special status of Kashmir.
News agency AFP quoted an unnamed diplomat saying that Poland, which currently holds the Security Council’s rotating presidency, has listed the matter for discussion on Friday after China reportedly asked for “closed consultations” on the matter.
The matter is scheduled to be discussed at 10 am on Friday in New York.
While Pakistan is claiming a diplomatic victory after the UNSC agreed to it, India is playing it down claiming the discussions will be informal and without any official record.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi earlier formally asked for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss India’s action over Kashmir which he called “illegal” and against the UN resolutions.
Mr Qureshi, last week met with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi. He said China backed Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir.
Indian foreign minister, S Jaishankar, during his bilateral meeting with Mr Yi, said the decision to revoke Kashmir’s special status was India’s internal matter. Mr Jaishankar said the move did not have any implications on the boundary shared by India and China.
“India was not raising any additional territorial claims. The Chinese concerns in this regard were, therefore, misplaced,” he said.
Mr Jaishankar said it doesn’t have any bearing on India’s working boundary with Pakistan either.
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