New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- India's government revoked disputed Kashmir's special status by presidential order Monday as thousands of newly deployed troops descended and some internet and phone services were suspended in the restive Himalayan region where most people oppose Indian rule.

Home Minister Amit Shah announced the revocation amid an uproar in India's two houses of parliament and while Kashmir was under a security lockdown keeping thousands of people inside their homes and unable to communicate with the outside world.

Shah's statement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a cabinet meeting and the government's top-decision making body on security matters, the Cabinet Committee on Security which he heads.

Kashmir is divided...