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Abstract
On August 5, 2019 the Hindu nationalist BJP removed the semi-autonomous status of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir by de-operationalising the provisions of Indian Constitution’s Article 370. Through a Presidential proclamation Article 35A, that granted the state government the power to define the state subjects and also blocked non-state subjects from owning immovable property in the state was also removed. While many in India have called this decision undemocratic and unconstitutional, BJP has, to its credit, fulfilled both a historic promise to its electorate and an ideological commitment. But what does this decision mean for the movement of self-determination (called tehreek in local parlance) in Kashmir?