Jammu and Kashmir marks seven years since the abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August 2019, a watershed moment that dissolved the region's special constitutional status and brought it fully under the same penal framework as the rest of India. In the years since, security officials and analysts argue that the structural shift — placing law and order directly under the Union Home Ministry — has fundamentally altered the landscape of both separatism and terrorism in the Valley.

End of Separatist Influence

Before 2019, critics of the old order argue, J&K was effectively co-governed by separatist groups who sheltered militants — both local and those infiltrating from Pakistan — and routinely incited stone-pelting after Friday prayers. The shift to direct Central oversight gave agencies including the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) an unimpeded mandate to investigate.

Subsequent NIA and ED probes reportedly traced substantial money trails linking separatist leaders to funds routed from Pakistan through multiple channels. According to officials, a portion of these funds was used to finance violence and push an anti-India agenda, while a significant share allegedly funded personal luxuries — including foreign education for the children of key separatist figures. The public exposure of these links, officials say, accelerated a shift in popular opinion that effectively rendered separatism politically irrelevant in the Valley.

Terror Volumes Fall, But Threats Persist

The collapse of separatist networks had a direct downstream effect on militant activity. Groups such as Hizbul Mujahideen have, according to security officials, lost significant ground in the Valley. While terror attacks have continued after 2019 — the most devastating being the Pahalgam attack — the overall frequency has declined compared to the pre-abrogation period.

An official cited smoother intelligence sharing between Central and state agencies, and the absence of political interference at the local level, as key operational advantages. The local police, freed from political pressure, worked more seamlessly with Central agencies — a coordination that officials say proved decisive in dismantling terror modules and the overground worker (OGW) networks that support them.

The principal remaining threat, according to security officials, is Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its proxy, The Resistance Front (TRF). TRF claimed responsibility for the killing of a head constable in Anantnag and a separate attack that claimed the lives of two migrant workers. Officials warn that scores of militants remain at launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and that sustained counter-terror pressure will be required for the long-term consolidation of gains.

Legal Reforms and Women's Rights

The abrogation also ended the provisions of Article 35A, which had denied women in J&K residency and property rights if they married non-residents. Central laws on domestic violence and child abuse — previously inapplicable — are now fully enforceable in the region.

Officials and advocates point to increased political participation for women through reservations in local bodies and expanded representation in District Development Council elections. Improved security conditions have also enhanced women's mobility and participation in public life, according to reports.

Economic Revival and Tourism Surge

The National Education Policy (NEP) has been implemented across schools and universities in J&K, and schools now function with far greater regularity — no longer shuttered by recurring violence. Tourism, described by officials as virtually non-functional before 2019, has witnessed substantial growth, generating employment and improving household incomes across the region.

Investment inflows have been reported across industries, horticulture, handicrafts, and services. In 2024, after years of Central administration, elections were held and an elected government was restored — a milestone that officials describe as a return to democratic normalcy.

Challenges That Remain

Despite the documented gains, security officials caution against complacency. Pakistan's continued attempts to revive militancy through LeT and TRF remain the single largest structural challenge. An official noted that the long-term success of post-Article 370 reforms would depend substantially on the sustained ability to contain Pakistan-backed terrorism — a process that, by its nature, cannot have a fixed endpoint.

As J&K enters its eighth year under the new constitutional order, the trajectory points to consolidation — but the border dynamic with Pakistan ensures that the security challenge is unlikely to fully recede.