Kashmir situation normal, people happy with move, says Javadekar
People in the Valley are supporting the government’s move...they are welcoming the move because it will benefit them
NEW DELHI: The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is “normal” and the people there are “happy” over the abrogation of Article 370 provisions as they will now get benefits and entitlements on par with citizens of rest of the country, information and broadcasting minister rakash Javadekar has said.
He also asserted that there have been no restrictions on media and that all newspapers are being published in the Valley without any difficulty.
The minister also rejected the Opposition’s charge that the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)was using withdrawal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status as a poll plank in the run-up to assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, saying it was the people who were talking about the historic move as it caught their imagination.
“Article 370 has caught the PRAKASH JAVADEKAR,
Union minister for information and broadcasting
imagination of people. The people are welcoming it all over the country. So what can you do, all sections of the society (have welcomed it),” he said.
Asked about the situation in Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 provisions, he said the situation remains “good” and it is “normal”.
“People in the Valley are supporting the government’s move...they are welcoming the move because it will benefit them,” he said.
Javadekar said people in Jammu and Kashmir will now get benefits of all the government schemes which were not available them prior to abrogation of the Article 370.
Under Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the state had the right to its own decision-making process for several key subjects except very few including defence, communications and foreign affairs.
Various central laws were not applicable in the Valley. For example, right to education was not applicable to children in the erstwhile state.
“Under Right to Education, 25 per cent students from economically weaker sections get admission. It was not applicable to J and K, but now it will be applicable,” he said.
People of Jammu and Kashmir did not get benefits under various schemes for other backward class, but they will get it now. Similarly, people from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes had no political reservation but they will get it now, Javadekar said. NEW DELHI: When then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton visited India in July 2011, she wanted to travel to Amritsar, but ended up in Chennai after she was told that the waters from the ancient port city of south India touched the western shores of the US, defining IndoPacific in a true sense. The presence of the Arakkonam naval ai r base near Chennai al so defined the QUAD security grouping, with the Boeing P-8I Neptune anti-submarine, ship interdictor and anti-surface warfare platform stationed at the base and in touch with US and Australia counterparts under COMCASA, or Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement.
While Chennai’s linkages with QUAD are still in a nascent stage, the Pallava capital of Kanchipuram was visited by Chinese traveller Huien Tsang or Xuanzang 2,000 years ago.
The heritage city of Mahabalipuram, now Mamallapuram, was also the showcase of the Pallavas and will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi host Chinese President Xi Jinping from October 11-13 at the second informal s u mmit b e t we e n t h e t wo leaders.
The success of this summit lies in whether President Xi can exorcise the ghost of Pakistan from Chinese perception of its bil ateral engagement with India.
If Xi can get over the Pakistan hangover and focus directly on improving bilateral ties with