Atthe stroke of midnight, the Jammu & Kashmir is divided into two UnionTerritories with Jammu &Kashmir being one and the Ladakh being the other.
TheKashmir valley is mute to this development, Jammu is largely indifferent butLadakh reason has reasons to celebrate.
Thetwo new Union Territories have come into existence on the 144th birth anniversaryof Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who is credited for the merger of over 560princely states into the Union of India, which is also celebrated as NationalUnity Day.
In a well-calculated strategy, nearly 100 days after the central government scrapped under Article 370, the states were divided and the number of states in India had come down to 28 and the number of Union Territories has gone up to nine.
The Jammuand Kashmir will continue to have a legislature, like in Pondicherry, Ladakh,like Chandigarh, shall not have a legislature.
Mr.Girish Chandra Murmu, the Union Expenditure Secretary will take oath as , takesoath as Lieutenant Governor of J&K while former Defence Secretary RadhaKrishna Mathur will be the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh.
The centrewill be in direct control of the police and the law and order in Jammu andKashmir, while the land will be under the elected government there. Ladakh willbe under the direct control of the central government, which will administer itthrough the Lieutenant Governor.
Meanwhile, there is some political movement in Kashmir as a new political alternative being catalyzed by the Centre.
Somesenior leaders such as PDP patron and former Deputy Chief Minister MuzaffarHussain Beig and several young aspiring politicians are ready to look beyondthe abrogation of Article 370, and willing to start afresh a dialogue with thepeople and engage with New Delhi. This is being encouraged by New Delhi.
