India revoked the special status for Kashmir on Monday that would strip its ability to make laws as it cut off communications and deployed thousands of troops to the disputed Himalayan region over fears of unrest.

The ​action of the ​Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi​ against Muslim-majority Kashmir comes amid a security lockdown that has confined thousands of people to their homes and ​left them ​unaware of the changes underway.

“The entire constitution will be applicable to Jammu and Kashmir,” Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah told parliament​, as opposition lawmakers protested the move.​

​The order would remove Article 370 of India’s Constitution, which dates to 1949, eliminating the Indian-administered state’s right to its own constitution and decision-making abilities over all matters except defense, communications and foreign affairs.

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It would also lift a ban on property purchases by non-residents, clearing a path for Indians to buy land, settle and hold government jobs there just as they can in India.

Political leaders in Kashmir, Mehooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, who are under house arrest, condemned the move.

“The Indian government’s unilateral and shocking decisions today are a total betrayal of trust that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had reposed in India when the state acceded to it in 1947,” Abdullah said in a statement.

M​ufti said it was the “darkest day in Indian democracy,”​ adding it will have “catastrophic consequences for the subcontinent.”

Pakistan, which fought two wars over the disputed region with India, vowed to take steps to counter the “illegal steps.”

B​ut ​officials in Modi’s government said the change would spur new investment in Kashmir, increase educational opportunities and end decades of discrimination that kept Indians from buying property and taking part in politics.

​As a result of the tense conditions in Kashmir, the US Embassy in India urged Americans to leave the region because of a “potential for terrorist incidents, as well as violent unrest.”​

​Amnesty International India said the move could “cause unrest and wide scale protests in the state.”

​With Post wires​​