How will revoking special status affect Kashmiris?
Kashmiri people now have to compete with other Indian citizens to get access to education, scholarships, state jobs and property
For many Kashmiris, Article 370 was the only reason for being a part of India, as it allowed them a considerable degree of autonomy and protected their rights.
By revoking it and the special status, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has critics worrying that by giving people from the rest of India the right to acquire property and settle there permanently, Muslim dominated Kashmir might soon lose its demographic edge.
Although Islam is practiced by about 67% of the population of the region, Hindus constitute about 30%, the Buddhists 1%, and the Sikhs 2% of the population, according to the Jammu and Kashmir official state portal.
Speaking to BBC, the state's former chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, said she felt there was a "sinister design" to the decision.
"They just want to occupy our land and want to make this Muslim-majority state like any other state and reduce us to a minority and disempower us totally."
How will life change for Kashmiris now?
Ditching the special status has highlighted long-running fears that the local way of life and customs could be lost following migration from other parts of India.
Moreover, they will now have to compete with other Indian citizens to get access to education, scholarships, state jobs and property.
Similar to the Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, Hindus are expected to buy up land in the region and force local Kashmiris out. This might lead to secularization of the region, causing Kashmir to lose its strong Muslim identity.
As a union territory, the local people will have even less say in decisions made for them by the central government. Although democracy in the region was practically non-existent, this now formalizes it.
It does not look all bad though, as Kashmiri women might gain more freedom. The clause relating to permanent residents deny Kashmiri women who marry non-Kashmiri men, and their children, their right of inheritance—they may now claim inheritance in ancestral property.
Why was it given in the first place?
The Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, first passed the law in 1927 to stop the influx of people from the northern state of Punjab into the state.
The special status, which has been in place since May 14, 1954, has helped Kashmiri Muslims and other communities preserve their strong sense of culture.
When the Jammu and Kashmir constitution was adopted in 1956, it ratified the then two-year-old permanent resident law.
Article 35A of the constitution allowed the legislature of Indian-administered Kashmir to define the state's "permanent residents" and what distinguished them.
Impact on security situation in Kashmir
This will likely worsen the simmering and bloody rebellion in Kashmir, where an insurgency over the past three decades has left more than 70,000 dead.
Since 1989, militants in Kashmir have been taking up arms against New Delhi. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed in fighting pitting the militants against Indian security forces.
The deteriorating climate in Kashmir has the potential to create space for the growing influence of militants with direct links to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS).
Although some analysts claim both groups have already made some inroads in the region, the extent of their presence is disputed.
A more immediate risk for New Delhi, however, is that Pakistan will retaliate by resorting to its tried-and-true tactic of sending militant proxies into Kashmir to target Indian security forces.
In recent years, much of the unrest in the region has been perpetrated by local Kashmiris radicalized by local conditions, with less direct involvement from Pakistan than in earlier years, according to Foreign Policy.
But BJP’s recent move gives Islamabad fresh incentive to deploy its prized assets in Kashmir.