India’s Supreme Court upholds government’s decision to remove disputed Kashmir’s special status

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — India’s top court has upheld a 2019 decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to strip disputed Jammu and Kashmir’s special status as a semi-autonomous region with a separate constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs. The five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court ruled Monday that the region’s special status had been a “temporary provision” and that removing it in 2019 was constitutionally valid. But the chief justice said the government has promised to restore Jammu-Kashmir’s statehood and should do so as soon as possible.