India’s Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the special status of held Kashmir was only a temporary provision and has upheld the order abrogating Article 370 in the constitution, as reported by the Times of India. The court has directed the election commission to hold elections in held Kashmir by September 30, 2024. In 2019, India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) revoked occupied Kashmir’s special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution, allowing people from the rest of the country to have the right to acquire property in held Kashmir and settle there permanently. Critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government viewed the move as an attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers. The verdict was read by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, who stated that Article 370 was a temporary provision due to war conditions in the state and that the President can declare that the said article ceases to exist. The Supreme Court also directed the country’s election commission to conduct elections for legislative assembly and ordered that India-held Kashmir be restored to the same statehood as any other Indian state. Ahead of the verdict’s announcement, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, the president of the PDP and the National Conference, were put under house arrest. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the verdict a “beacon of hope” and said it “constitutionally upholds the decision taken by the Parliament of India on Aug 5, 2019”.