Jammu & Kashmir ceases to be State, becomes UT along with Ladakh

Girish Murmu sworn in as J&K’s first Lieutenant-Governor; R.K. Mathur is Lieutenant-Governor of Ladakh

Jammu & Kashmir became the first State of the Indian Union to be reduced to Union Territory status, with former IAS officer Girish Murmu being sworn in as its first Lieutenant-Governor on Thursday. Carved out of the former J&K State, Ladakh became another Union Territory, with former civil servant R. K. Mathur taking over as Lieutenant-Governor in Leh.

Srinagar saw a complete shutdown as Mr. Murmu, a Gujarat-cadre IAS officer handpicked by the Centre, became the new executive authority in the UT, which will now be directly administered by the Union Home Ministry.

Three former Chief Ministers, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, continue to be under detention from August 4, a day before the Rajya Sabha voted to end J&K’s special status in the Indian Union.

After the downsizing of J&K State, the Indian Union has now been reduced to 28 States, while the number of Union Territories has climbed to nine. J&K’s State Constitution has also ceased to operate.

Hours before the actual swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan, on the outskirts of Srinagar, this correspondent noticed all roads leading to the Raj Bhavan were sealed off by the security forces. There was heavy deployment of security personnel in the area.

All shops and business establishments downed their shutters even as private vehicles could be seen plying in the erstwhile summer capital of the old State of Jammu & Kashmir. In the weeks gone by, shops were open during morning hours and downed their shutters by 10 am but on Thursday they were all closed.

Residents of the Kashmir Valley continue to have no access to both fixed-line and mobile Internet services, which were snapped at midnight on August 4 and are still to be restored.

Anger on the streets

There was palpable anger on the streets, with a bunch of people telling this correspondent on Residency Road that ending their special status on August 6 was an “act of betrayal” by the BJP government at the Centre.

“No bandh call has been given by the separatists or the militants, but people have spontaneously downed their shutters in protest against the ending of our special status. It is the people who have taken over as the leaders of this movement,” one shopkeeper, who took this correspondent to his shuttered shop, said.

“How can we believe that full statehood will be restored to us when so many promises made to us on autonomy have been flouted by the Government of India?” another shopkeeper, who preferred anonymity like his colleague, said.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on August 5, Home Minister Amit Shah said the government would consider restoring full statehood to J&K if the Union Territory model worked well.

Interestingly, while the J&K UT will have a 114-member elected Assembly, up from 107 earlier, and a Chief Minister, the Ladakh UT will be controlled directly by the LG.

Soon after being sworn in, Mr Mathur said, “We will chalk out a blueprint to push development in different sectors. Health and education will remain a key focus.”

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