Indians react to Supreme Court verdict on Jammu and Kashmir

India's Supreme Court verdict to uphold the repeal of Jammu and Kashmir's special status within India has been met with shock and disappointed by political parties in the Himalayan region.

India's top court gave legal approval for the Indian government's unilateral decision to strip Kashmir of the limited autonomy and special status it had held for decades in a decision announced by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Monday.

It upheld the repeal of Article 370, which had barred non-residents from buying land or applying for jobs in the region and also provided local politicians limited autonomy in framing laws and regulations about internal affairs.

The five-judge court also approved the Indian government's 2019 decision to divide the princedom of Jammu and Kashmir into two federally administered territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The area has been contested since the partition of India in 1947, when the majority-Muslim princedom joined India after an invasion by armed tribesmen with limited backing by the Pakistani state.

India and Pakistan have since fought two of their three wars over the disputed territories on India’s heavily militarised northern frontier with Pakistan and China.

The move by the Supreme Court angered local politicians, who opposed the repeal of the region's special status, and authorities have increased the security presence in the region.

Farooq Abdullah, a three-time former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and the president of National Conference – the region’s main political party – reacted angrily outside the Indian parliament when he was asked about the decision.

“Let Jammu and Kashmir go to hell, that is where you have taken it,” he said.

“You want to win hearts of people, but how will you win hearts of people when you do things that push people away from you,” Mr Abdullah said, whose father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was one of the architects of the repealed law, named Article 370.