Indian SC issues notice to Modi govt on Article 370

NEW DELHI (92 News) – The Indian Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday issued a notice to the Narendra Modi led government on all petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370. The Indian SC held a preliminary hearing on 14 petitions — which relate to Article 370 and the subsequent lockdown in the region — today and said five judges will start a regular hearing in October. “If notice is issued, it will have cross-border repercussions. It will be misused,” the Solicitor General was quoted as saying. While hearing a petition by Kashmir Times Executive Editor Anuradha Bhasin, which demands an end to communications restrictions in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK), the top court issued another notice to the government and asked for a detailed response within a week. The Associated Press said the bench ordered the government to inform the court about the media restrictions imposed in IoK. The bench, on another petition, refused a request from the federal government to appoint an interlocutor for Jammu & Kashmir. On August 5, India abolished Article 370 that granted special status to occupied Kashmir. The Modi government sent in an unprecedented number of Indian troops to the disputed valley, imposed a curfew and placed Kashmiri politicians under house arrest. As the curfew in the IoK has entered in the 24th day today, the life has become more miserable and multiplied after the shortage of food and medicine. People are facing acute shortage of life-saving medicines, essential commodities including baby food as nine million Kashmiris are besieged while Jammu and Kashmir has become a big jail for its inhabitants. All internet and communication services and TV channels are closed in the Kashmir valley and Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch, Ramban and Rajouri areas of Jammu region since 5th of August when BJP government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Local newspapers could not update their online editions while majority of them could also not be printed due to restrictions. Over 10,000 political leaders and workers including top Hurriyat leadership have been detained. The jails and police stations have run out of space and many detainees have been lodged in makeshift detention centres and in jails outside the territory.