India's top court to hear Kashmir statehood plea
Indian security personnel stand guard on a street during the sixth anniversary of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's partial autonomy.
NEW DELHI - India's top court will hear a plea for the restoration of Kashmir's federal statehood later this week, court officials said Aug 5, as the region marked six years under direct rule from New Delhi.
The hearing, scheduled for Aug 8 in the Supreme Court, follows an application filed by two residents of the Muslim-majority territory, where a separatist insurgency has raged for years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government in August 2019 revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy and brought it directly under federal control.
The move was accompanied by mass arrests and a communications blackout that ran for months as India bolstered its armed forces in the region to contain protests.
The removal of Article 370 of the constitution, which enshrined the Indian-administered region's special status, was challenged by Kashmir's pro-India political parties, the local Bar Association and individual litigants.
The Supreme Court in December 2023 upheld removing the region's autonomy but called for Jammu and Kashmir, as the Delhi-administered area is known, to be restored to statehood and put on a par with any other Indian federal state 'at the earliest and as soon as possible'.
'We have moved an application seeking a definitive timeline for the restoration of statehood,' said the petitioners' lawyer, Soayib Qureshi.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore 'She had a whole life ahead of her': Boyfriend mourns Yishun fatal crash victim
Singapore Doctor hounds ex-girlfriend, threatens to share her intimate photos, abducts her from public street
Singapore Beauty industry consumers hit by 464% rise in prepayment losses in first half of 2025
Sport S'pore National Olympic Council launches book series honouring local athletes in celebration of SG60
Singapore New cargo handling centre at Changi Airport reduces processing time; test bed for future T5 ops
Singapore Over 5,900 vape products found in car at Woodlands Checkpoint
Singapore 13 taken to hospital after accident involving SBS buses, car in Tampines
Singapore Elderly man charged after he allegedly molested, performed sex act on 'vulnerable' man
'It has been quite some time since the court asked for it and elections have also been successfully held.'
Last November, Kashmir elected its first government since it was brought under New Delhi's direct control, as voters backed opposition parties to lead its regional assembly.
But the local government has limited powers and the territory continues to be for all practical purposes governed by a New Delhi-appointed administrator.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the neighbours were granted independence from British rule and partitioned in 1947.
Indian security forces were deployed in force in the Himalayan territory on Aug 5, eyeing protests demanding the restoration of its special status. AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
12 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US to ease human rights criticism of El Salvador, Israel and Russia, WaPo reports
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox WASHINGTON - The Trump administration plans to scale back criticism of El Salvador, Israel and Russia over human rights, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing drafts of the State Department's annual human rights reports. The draft reports related to those countries were significantly shorter than the ones prepared by the administration of Democratic former President Joe Biden, who left office in January, when Donald Trump assumed the presidency. The State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on Wednesday, has not yet officially released this year's reports, which cover last year's incidents. Usually, these annual reports are released around March or April each year. "The 2024 Human Rights Report has been restructured in a way that removes redundancies, increases report readability and is more responsive to the legislative mandates that underpin the report," a State Department official briefing reporters on Wednesday said. "The report is not meant to be a every single human rights abuse that's happened in every single country. It's meant to be illustrative and a broad picture of what the conditions of human rights are on the ground in each country." REUTERS
Straits Times
42 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Brazil's Bolsonaro appeals house arrest order
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The former Brazilian president was placed under house arrest on Aug 4. BRASILIA - Lawyers for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro appealed on Aug 6 a house arrest order imposed against him earlier this week, a document sent to the Supreme Court and seen by Reuters showed. Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest on Aug 4 after an order was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes against him. Mr Moraes' decision cited a failure to comply with restraining orders he had imposed on Bolsonaro for allegedly courting US President Donald Trump's interference in the case. Bolsonaro's lawyers had already said that they would appeal the decision to place him under house arrest. In the document sent on Aug 6, the lawyers said that Bolsonaro did not breach the restraining orders. They also asked for the house arrest order to be voted on by a wider panel of Supreme Court justices. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Stanford student newspaper sues Trump administration for alleged free speech violations
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: The Hoover Tower rises above Stanford University in this aerial photo in Stanford, California, U.S. on January 13, 2017. Picture taken January 13, 2017. REUTERS/Noah Berger/File Photo Stanford University's student newspaper sued the Trump Administration on Wednesday, arguing it has violated the free-speech rights of foreign students by threatening to deport them for writing stories that it considers "anti-American or anti-Israel." The Stanford Daily and two unidentified students said in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in California against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, that foreign students at the Palo Alto, California, school have refused to write about the conflict in the Middle East for fear they could be arrested, detained and deported. "This pall of fear is incompatible with American liberty," the lawsuit said. "Our First Amendment stands as a bulwark against the government infringing the inalienable human right to think and speak for yourself." Spokespeople for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "In the United States of America, no one should fear a midnight knock on the door for voicing the wrong opinion,' Stanford Daily attorney Conor Fitzpatrick said in a statement. A spokesperson for Stanford University said the newspaper is an independent organization and that the school is not part of the lawsuit. The Trump administration has attempted to deport students who have expressed pro-Palestinian views, calling them antisemitic and extremist sympathizers whose presence in the country was adverse to U.S. foreign policy. Protesters say that the government wrongly conflates their criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza and advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and extremism. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Some ageing condos in Singapore struggle with failing infrastructure, inadequate sinking funds World Trump eyes 100% chips tariff, but 0% for US investors like Apple World White House says Trump open to meeting Russia's Putin and Ukraine's Zelensky Singapore MRT track issue causes 5-hour delay; Jeffrey Siow says 'we can and will do better' Singapore ST Explains: What is a track point fault and why does it cause lengthy train disruptions? Singapore ST and Uniqlo launch design contest for Singapore stories T-shirt collection Asia Malaysia plans barrierless toll system modelled after Singapore's ERP Singapore S'pore and Indonesia have discussed jointly developing military training facilities: Chan Chun Sing Judges have ordered the release of some students who the administration arrested and detained without being charged with a crime. The Stanford Daily said in its lawsuit that the administration has caused its foreign writers to self-censor to avoid being targeted. It argued that the administration's threats prevent them from "engaging in protected expression like attending protests, using certain slogans, and publicly voicing their true views about American foreign policy, Israel, and Palestine." The newspaper asked the court to rule that the U.S. Constitution prevents the government from deporting non-citizens for engaging in free speech. REUTERS
