National integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and vio… https://t.co/fMD4NVeTu1 — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) 1565075251000

NEW DELHI: A day after the government ended the special status granted to Jammu & Kashmir under Article 370 , scrapping Article 35A, and splitting the state into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh , Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the 'abuse of power' by the BJP-led central government."National integration isn't furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution. The nation is made by its people, not plots of land," he said on Twitter, adding, "This abuse of executive power has grave implications for our national security."A little later, Rahul tweeted again on the 'undemocratic' arrest of J&K's leaders. "Kashmir’s mainstream political leaders have been jailed at secret locations. This is unconstitutional & undemocratic. It’s also short sighted and foolish because it will allow terrorists to fill the leadership vacuum created by GOI. The imprisoned leaders must be released."Earlier, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari also expressed the Congress party's disapproval during the debate in Lok Sabha on Tuesday. "Today, when you remove Article 370, what message are you sending to other states that have special status?" he said. "This is a constitutional tragedy. This is against the spirit of the Constitution," he said.Tewari also highlighted how this was the first instance of a state being converted into a union territory. "In the past 70 years, there have been many instances when a UT has been converted into a state...", he said, "but this is the first time a state has been converted into a UT."Home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday tabled the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 in the Lok Sabha. Responding to criticism on the government's decision, Shah made it clear, "This country's Parliament cannot be stopped from making any law on J&K."Read this story in Bengali