Pulwama terror attack forced Modi govt to scrap Article 370: Centre tells SC

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was arguing for the Centre, said as quoted by Times Now, "A lot of things happened.. Pulwama happened in early 2019 and it was done thinking a lot of things in mind such as sovereignty, national security issues etc in mind."

"Two prominent political parties (NC and PDP) have challenged the decision on the ground that the Kashmiris lost autonomy and internal sovereignty.

"The truth is that residents of Jammu and Kashmir had not enjoyed in full measure the fundamental rights to life, property, settlement and employment under an artificially created distinction between 'permanent residents' and others to deprive the latter of basic rights," SG Mehta added.

Modi govt's bold Kashmir step in 2019

Soon after getting re-elected for the second term with a brute majority in May 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government scrapped Articles 370 and 35A leading to massive political ramifications, fulfilling the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s poll promise of decades.

With the decision, the politically-volatile and terrorism wracked Jammu and Kashmir, a bone of contention and military disputes for over seven decades between two nuclear armed neighbours of India and Pakistan, lost the enjoyment of any special status with the Modi government's move to integrate the Muslim-majority region with the rest of the country and bifurcate the state into two.

Articles 370 and 35A in brief

Article 370 used to allow Jammu and Kashmir to have its own constitution, flag and right to handle its own laws except on matters that impact national security.

Article 35A used to allow the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define "permanent residents" of the state and also provided special rights and privileges to those permanent residents, through the presidential order.