7 PM | Jammu and Kashmir loses special status, to become a Union Territory: A timeline | 6th August, 2019

Context: A time line of events that led to stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and redrawing the map to bifurcation the state.

More in News: Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah, introduced two bills and two resolutions regarding Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) on 5^thAugust 2019 in Rajya Sabha. These are:

1. Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 2019 issued by President of India to supersede the 1954 order related to Article 370.
2. Resolution for Repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution of India.
3. Jammu & Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019 for the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
4. Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (2^nd Amendment) Bill, 2019 to further amend amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004.

All of the above passed in Rajya Sabha unanimously.

The Timeline:

• August 15, 1947: The Indian Independence Act, 1947, divided British India into India and Pakistan. The princely states were given three options – to remain independent, or join Dominion of India or Dominion of Pakistan. Jammu & Kashmir’s Maharaja Hari Singh opted to remain independent.
• October 26, 1947: The invasion on Kashmir by the tribesmen from the Northwest Frontier Provinces, supported by Pakistan forced Maharaja Hari Singh to sought help from India, which sought accession in return.
• October 30, 1947: Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was appointed as Emergency Administrator of the state of Jammu and Kashmir by Maharaja Hari Singh.
• January 1, 1948: India referred the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to the United Nations Security Council. 
• March 5, 1948: Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was appointed as prime minister of an interim government in the state of Jammu and Kashmir by Maharaja Hari Singh.
• December 31, 1948: The UN Security Council mediated a ceasefire agreement that went into effect. 
• January 26, 1950: Indian Constitution comes into effect with Article 370 in relation to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
• August 9, 1953: Jawaharlal Nehru ordered the arrest of the Prime Minister of J&K, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah and his government dismissed.
• May 14, 1954: Presidential Order introduced Article 35A. The PM of J&K became Chief Minister.
• 1962 – China defeats India in a short war for control of Aksai Chin.
• 1963 – Pakistan cedes the Trans-Karakoram Tract of Kashmir to China.
• 1965 – A brief war between Indian and Pakistan over Kashmir ends in a ceasefire and a return to the previous positions.
• February 24, 1975: Indira Gandhi-Sheikh Abdullah Accord. It stated that, ‘the State of Jammu and Kashmir which is a constituent unit of the Union of India, shall, in its relation with the Union, continue to be governed by Article 370 of the Constitution of India.’
• 1984 – The Indian Army seizes control of the Siachen Glacier, an area not demarcated by the Line of Control. Pakistan makes frequent attempts to capture the area in the following decades.
• March 23, 1987: An election widely seen as rigged and seen as a turning point leading to militancy. Farooq Abdullah was reinstalled after the 1987 polls, again with Congress support.
• 1989: That year marked the real beginning of insurgency (as per the historian Victoria Schofield). Strikes were frequent, many militant groups emerged.
• 1990 – The insurgency escalates after the Indian Army kills about 100 demonstrators at Gawakadal Bridge. Attacks and threats lead to the flight of almost all Hindus from the Kashmir Valley area of the state. India imposes Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir. A J&K 2008 police report states that 1989 onwards, militants killed 209 Kashmiri Pandits, 109 in 1990 alone.
• 1999: Kargil war- Pakistani troops and militants had infiltrated through the Line of Control, before India recaptured its positions. The other two wars fought over Kashmir were in 1947 and 1965.
• April 2003: PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee after a visit to J&K said, “I stressed that the gun can solve no problem; brotherhood can. Issues can be resolved if we move forward guided by the three principles of Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat.”
• 2004-2014: The UPA I and UPA II years, marked by
  • the appointment of interlocutors for J&K in 2010 (Dilip Padgaonkar, M M Ansari, Radha Kumar)
  • a meeting between the PM and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in New York in 2006
  • unrest in 2008 over transfer of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board.
• 2004-2018:
  • Poles apart in ideology, PDP and BJP allied to form a government, first with Mufti Mohd Sayeed as CM, who was succeeded by his daughter Mehbooba following his death.
  • The killing of militant Burhan Wani led to unrest in the Valley, the alliance strained, and Mehbooba eventually resigned in 2018.
• June 20, 2018: The governor’s rule is imposed in the state.
• December, 2018: The central government imposed President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir starting from December 20, 2018, as the Governor’s rule expires in the state six months after it was imposed.
• July, 2019: The extension of the central rule which has been continuing in J&K since June 20, 2018.
• August 5, 2019: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Introduced 2 resolution and 2 bills in Rajya Sabha that led to scrapping of Article 370 and 35A. The State of Jammu and Kashmir is now bifurcated into Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Union Territory of Ladakh (without legislature).

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/jammu-and-kashmir-special-status-to-union-territory-timeline-5881464/