In a big announcement, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced in Rajya Sabha that the government has decided to repeal Article 370 of the Constitution which grants special status to J&K.

The Indian Army and Indian Air Force have been put on high alert, following revoking of Article 370 and other decisions announced by Government of India.

Shah is likely to make a similar statement in the Lok Sabha later today.

The government has also decided to bifurcate the state into two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature, and Ladakh, which will be without a legislature.

While Shah’s announcement invited a huge ruckus in the house, back in the Valley, three of Jammu and Kashmir’s most prominent politicians — Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah and Sajjad Lone are under house arrest amid a massive security-built up in the state.

Additional paramilitary forces, which arrived in Kashmir in the past few days, have been deployed across the city and in other vulnerable areas of the valley.

Internet services and mobile services have been suspended in several places and all public gatherings are banned in Srinagar district as section 144 was imposed from midnight.

Drafted in Part XXI, under Temporary and Transitional Provisions, 370 is an extension of Article 35A, which allows the state to have its own constitution, flag and the right to handle its own laws except on matters that impact national security.

Governor Satya Pal Malik had earlier dismissed speculations that the Centre might be planning to do away with Article 35A of the Constitution, which gives exclusive rights to the state’s residents in government jobs and land.