Special Status  

The NCERT has revised a chapter in its Class 12 political science textbook to drop a paragraph on separatist politics in Jammu and Kashmir and to add a brief mention of scrapping of its special status last year

The year 2019 saw several turning points in Indian history. From revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special status through abrogation of Article 370 to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), here are five events of 2019 that became the most prominent political issues in India.

While there are rumours that the Union government is trying to grant special status to J&K and Ladakh (by the Congress) the centre has denied any such development. 

The Ayodhya verdict was pronounced while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is in power for the second time. In August this year, the NDA government fulfilled a long-pending and ideological demands of the party for the repeal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir which gave special status to the erstwhile state.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has now been converted into two union territories, 86 days after Parliament abrogated its special status under Article 370. Let's have a look at what the foreign media has to say.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following New Delhi's decision in August to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir

The Congress, the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party stayed away from the elections in Jammu and Kashmir - a first after abrogation of the state's special status

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday praised the government’s decision to scrap Article 370, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir

While India maintained its stand on the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a stance which has been supported by several countries, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has not given up on approaching countries to fight India along with him.

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi was worried about a frosty reception in the US after the government's decision to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to Kashmir, President Donald Trump was quick to put those fears to rest. “Border security is vital to India", Trump said alongside Pm Modi, as the two spoke at a huge gathering of around 50,000 Indian-Americans on Sunday.

China has made it clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping will not be discussing the Kashmir issue when they meet. Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status granted under Article 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution on August 5. 

Indian ambassador to the United States Harsh Vardhan Shringla called Article 370, which gave special status to the state, an "anachronistic provision" that was "stifling the economy and encouraging the inflow of Pakistani terrorism" and said US liberal media has “unfortunately chosen not to provide this perspective”.
 

The protests outside the Indian High Commission building in London took place in the backdrop of the Centre in India having revoked special status for Jammu and Kashmir

This meeting between the two countries on Kartarpur Corridor would be the second meeting of its kind after India's Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status

Altaf Hussain, an exiled Pakistan politico living in the United Kingdom, sang ‘saare jahan se achha’.  Hussain was seen challenging Pakistan to "annex" Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in reaction to the Indian government's decision to withdraw the special status to Jammu and Kashmir.