Indian SC upholds govt move to revoke Kashmir’s autonomy

India's supreme court on Monday (December 11) upheld a move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to revoke the limited autonomy of Muslim-majority Kashmir, where an insurgency has raged for decades, and ordered elections within a year.

The Supreme Court said in its verdict that the 2019 declaration was "a culmination of the process of integration and as such is a valid exercise of power".

The move was accompanied by the imposition of direct rule from New Delhi, mass arrests, a total lockdown and communication blackout that ran for months as India bolstered its armed forces in the region to contain protests.

Modi's muscular policy has been deeply controversial in Kashmir, but was widely celebrated across India, with the insurgency that claimed tens of thousands of lives over decades largely quietened.

The removal of Article 370 of the constitution, which enshrined the special status of the disputed region, was challenged by Kashmir's pro-India political parties, the local Bar Association and individual litigants, culminating in Monday's verdict.

The court upheld removing the region's autonomy while calling for Jammu and Kashmir to be restored to statehood with the same status as any other Indian state "at the earliest and as soon as possible".

The court also ordered state elections to take place by September 30, 2024. Security was stepped up across Kashmir ahead of the verdict, with authorities deploying hundreds of soldiers, paramilitary troops, and police in the main city of Srinagar to thwart any protests. Modi welcomed the judgement as "historic".