Article 370 revocation, five years on: BJP celebrates, Ex-CMs Mufti, Abdullah say not allowed to protest

Security has been put on high alert across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on the fifth anniversary of the revocation of Article 370. It was on August 5, five years ago when the Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the revocation of Article 370 and the division of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories. The government, due to security reasons, suspended Amarnath Yatri's movement from Jammu to Srinagar.

The whole National Highway has also been put on alert.

Meanwhile, the BJP leaders in the Kashmir Valley celebrated the anniversary and said the revocation means development for the Union Territory and thanked Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for taking the step. Sweets were distributed at the BJP headquarters in Srinagar and slogans in support of PM Modi and the country were raised.

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''In 2019 on the same day, Article 370 was finished. It was the time when PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah's efforts bore fruit, and the wall was broken down which had kept Kashmir away from development. Jammu Kashmir became a full integral part of India on August 5, 2019, and that's why we all have gathered together to celebrate the day. We also thank the PM and HM for the efforts. Those who are mourning are not elected by ex-members and it does not matter what they say, but the locals are celebrating. These politicians should not lie and none of them are under house arrest, '' said Altaf Thakur, BJP spokesperson.

However, the political leadership from Jammu and Kashmir alleged that they have been kept under house arrest and not allowed to show their protest against the decision today. The two former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah both took to social media to allege that they along with their leaders have not been allowed to move outside their residences.

''5th August 2019 will go down in history not just as a dark day for Jammu and Kashmir but as a blot on Indian democracy. The day when a semi-autonomous state was disempowered, dismembered & robbed of everything special and sacrosanct to us. Since then, the state has been threatened into silence which is touted as ‘peace and normalcy’ to the rest of the country. Five years on the siege continues but so does the unyielding defiance & resistance. We Kashmiris refuse to be erased & unpeopled,'' said Mehbooba Mufti, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar Abdullah also took to social media and said while a handful of BJP leaders are allowed to celebrate those who want to register their protest against the decision are locked up in their homes.

"This is what passes for democracy & free speech in J&K. A handful of BJP “leaders” are encouraged to celebrate today while those who would have registered their protest against what was done to J&K are locked up in homes across the valley, '' Omar said.

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However, the BJP leaders said that these political leaders are mourning as their means of corruption have ended.

"People have realised that some parties in the Union Territory were using Article 370 for their own benefits and corruption. The money that used to come for the development never reached the people. You can see what has changed in the last 5 years, Asia's largest railway bridge is here. Jammu-Srinagar Highway has been upgraded and there are flyovers being made everywhere. So, after the abrogation, the whole UT has been on the road of development. I have heard some Political parties and leaders saying it's a black day, they can mourn, and they have a reason as there is no way to do corruption and loot public money anymore. People did not vote for two former chief ministers, and it is evident that their politics has been rejected,'' said Manzoor Bhat, BJP leader.

Some political leaders had taken to social media to show that they were not allowed to move out of their premises today.