01 November,2019 07:56 AM IST | Srinagar/Leh | Agencies
Girish Chandra Murmu being sworn-in as the 1st Lt. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar; (right) Radha Krishna Mathur being sworn in as the first Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh in Leh. Pics/PTI
Srinagar/Leh: Stepping into the record books as the first lieutenant governors of two new union territories, G C Murmu was on Thursday sworn in as lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir and R K Mathur of Ladakh.
The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, have been carved out of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with the government's August 5 decision to revoke the special status of the state under Article 370 and bifurcate it into two UTs. Mathur took the oath of office in Leh and Murmu in Srinagar later in the day.
India on Thursday hit back at China over its objection to the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, saying the reorganisation is entirely its internal affair. India also said that China continues to be in occupation of a large tract of area in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
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Reacting to China's statement, Kumar said China is well aware of India's consistent and clear position on this issue. "The matter of reorganisation of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir into the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh is entirely an internal affair of India," he said.
"We do not expect other countries, including China, to comment on the matters which are internal to India, just as India refrains from commenting on internal issues of other countries," Kumar said.
The Centre has declared omission of "permanent residents or hereditary state subjects" in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, ending their seven-decades-long privileges over land and jobs. Those who were residents of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir at the time of the state's merger with the Union of India and their descendants are called state subjects and they used to get privileges over land and jobs due to Article 370 and Article 35A.
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