India's parliament debates revoking Kashmir special status and split

India-administered Kashmir remained on a securitylockdown and communication blackout on Tuesday as India's lower houseof parliament was due to approve a resolution and bill that revokesthe disputed region's special status.Members of the lower house, or Lok Sabha, were debating the "Jammuand Kashmir Reorganization Bill" a day after the legislation wasintroduced alongside a presidential decree revoking Article 370 ofIndia's Constitution, which for decades had conferred special statusto the state and given it significant autonomy.The upper house of parliament or Rajya Sabha approved the bill by a125-61 margin on Monday, with several opposition lawmakers breakingranks to vote with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).The motions were expected to pass easily in the Lok Sabha, where theHindu nationalist BJP has a clear majority. The reorganization bill downgrades the region from a state into twofederally administered territories: Jammu and Kashmir as well asLadakh. Jammu and Kashmir would still have its own legislature, whileLadakh would not.India has sent tens of thousands of troops to Kashmir, keeping itunder a tight lockdown and suspending phone lines and the internet toprevent protests and violence over the new measures, which are deeplyunpopular in the Muslim-majority region.National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and senior officials werevisiting the region Tuesday to oversee security, media reports said.