SRINAGAR: Indian au­­tho­­rities on Tuesday rele­a­sed a top Kashmiri politician from detention more than a year after New Delhi scrapped Indian-controlled Kash­mir’s special status, a move that triggered widespread anger and economic ruin amid a harsh security clampdown.

Mehbooba Mufti had been held in detention since August 2019 alongside thousands of politicians and activists after Indian Prime Minister Na­­rendra Modi's government passed legislation in Parlia­ment that stri­p­ped Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, annulled its separate constitution and removed inherited protections on land and jobs.

In an audio message posted Tuesday on Twitter, Mufti called India's August 5, 2019, action a "black decision on a black day.” None among us can ever forget the political heist and insult on that day, Mufti said.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2020