{"id":981,"date":"2023-09-06T00:28:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T00:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/indias-top-judges-to-consider-iiojks-direct-rule-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-09-06T00:28:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T00:28:00","slug":"indias-top-judges-to-consider-iiojks-direct-rule-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/indias-top-judges-to-consider-iiojks-direct-rule-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s top judges to consider IIOJK\u2019s \u2018direct rule\u2019 | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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India’s Supreme Court concluded its hearing on Tuesday on a challenge to New Delhi’s 2019 imposition of direct rule in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), a snap decision that led to protests and mass arrests.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government suspended Article 370 of the constitution that guarantees limited autonomy to the occupied region, home to a long-running freedom movement against Indian rule.<\/p>\n

The five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud will now retire to consider if the move was legal despite lacking the endorsement from parliament usually required for constitutional change.<\/p>\n

No timeline has been give for their decision.<\/p>\n

Read more: IIOJK news portal vacates office after India crackdown<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Supreme Court in New Delhi heard arguments over 16 days from government lawyers, constitutional experts representing occupied Kashmir’s pro-India political parties, and others challenging the move.<\/p>\n

India has for decades stationed more than half a million soldiers in IIOJK.<\/p>\n

Pakistan and India have fought three wars over control of the region, and an armed rebellion against Indian rule lead to the martyrdom of thousands of Kashmiris since 1989<\/p>\n

The suspension of IIOJK’s semi-autonomous status allowed Indians from elsewhere to buy land and claim government jobs there, a policy denounced by critics as “settler colonialism”.<\/p>\n

Read also: Kashmiris to observe India\u2019s independence day as Black Day<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Many residents and critics say that authorities have since curbed media freedoms and public protests in a drastic curtailment of civil liberties.<\/p>\n

Modi’s government has defended the decision in the court, saying the change had brought “peace, progress and prosperity” to the restive territory.<\/p>\n

Consolidating New Delhi’s rule over occupied Kashmir has long been a key plank of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.<\/p>\n

The frequency of armed clashes between Indian soldiers and freedom fighters has dropped significantly in recent years as India works to fortify its rule over the territory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n