J&K to get statehood at appropriate time, says Union minister

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir would be granted statehood at an “appropriate” time after normalcy is restored there, the government told Parliament on Wednesday.

Minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai stated this in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

He was replying to a question on whether the government had any proposal to “reinstate” the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and whether some efforts have been made to end the yearlong ban on different means of communication.

“Statehood to J&K would be granted at an appropriate time after normalcy is restored in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

“In view of the constitutional changes and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of the Jammu and Kashmir into Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh, in national interest and also in the interest of security of J&K, temporary restrictions on various communication channels like internet and mobile services were resorted to in Jammu and Kashmir,” the minister stated. Subsequently, the matter “was reviewed from time to time and restrictions imposed were gradually eased out in a phased manner and 4G internet data services were restored in the entire Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir from February 5, he said.

‘Number of terror incidents down in UT’

The number of incidents of terrorist violence has come down in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two years, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday. Rai said, “The number of terrorist incidents has reduced during 2020 by 59% as compared to 2019 and 32% up to June, 2021 in comparison with the corresponding period up to June, 2020.”