India's lower house of parliament has passed a bill to split Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories with 367 vote in favour and 67 vote against.

Amid a huge troop build-up leading to unrest in the state, the Indian government on Tuesday (Aug 6) morning announced that special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the constitution has been removed by an order from President Ram Nath Kovind, reports Indian news agencies.


Earlier on Monday (Aug 5), India’s ruling BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah proposed to reorganise Jammu and Kashmir, carving out two separate Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The proposal also said Ladakh will be a Union Territory without an assembly and Jammu and Kashmir will be a Union Territory with an assembly.
Saying that the proposal comes amid constant threats of cross border terrorism, Shah said the Union Territories 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.
Soon after the proposal was presented in the parliament, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference’s Omar Abdullah condemned the move calling it “betrayal of trust”.
The National Conference leader added that the move will be challenged by the National Conference. “Long and tough battle lies ahead, we are ready for that,” Abdullah said.
Former Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also attacked the Centre over the move and called that today was the “darkest day in Indian democracy.”
Later, both former chief ministers were arrested by Indian authorities on charges of “likely to cause breach of peace keeping into consideration your recent activities that may likely lead to a serious law and order situation.”
Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir placed large parts of the disputed region under lockdown early Monday while India sent in tens of thousands of additional troops and traded accusations of clashes with Pakistan at their de facto border.
Communications were cut, with private mobile networks, internet services and telephone landlines cut, AFP reported.
Before the network disruptions, senior former and current Kashmiri political leaders tweeted that they had been put under house arrest.
The Himalayan region has surged back into the spotlight in the past few days, months after a militant attack on an Indian paramilitary convoy claimed by a Pakistan-based group sparked cross-border airstrikes by the nuclear-armed rivals.
They have controlled parts of the region since the end of British colonial rule on the subcontinent in 1947.
But both claim it in full and have fought two of three wars over the territory, where a decades-long insurgency on the Indian side has killed tens of thousands.