Jammu Welcomed The Scrapping Of Special Status. Now, Political Resentments Are Brewing scroll.in

On December 26, Jammu and Kashmir High Court issued a notification inviting applications for 33 vacant posts. Applications were open to candidates across the country. The circular stemmed from administrative changes made after August 5, when the government stripped the state of special status under Article 370, split it into two Union Territories and revoked Article 35A.

The revoked law had empowered the state government of Jammu and Kashmir to identify state subjects and reserve for them certain rights, including the right to own land and hold government jobs in the state. With Article 35A gone, so were the special protections. But on December 31, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court withdrew the notice. In the five days that had passed, the administration faced considerable pushback, not from Kashmir, where the internet blockade continues and political leaders remain locked up, but from Jammu division. Even the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in Jammu felt the heat.