Kashmir is ‘normal’: Home Minister
The situation is “fully normal” in Jammu and Kashmir and a decision on lifting internet curbs in the valley will be taken soon, said Home Minister Amit Shah. Painting a picture of normalcy, Shah told Parliament that there is no curfew in place and all essential services are available.
Shah said not a single person has died due to police firing since August 5 when New Delhi nullified Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred special status on Jammu and Kashmir. “People in this house were predicting bloodshed but I am happy to inform that no one has died in police firing. Incidents of stone-pelting have declined from 802 last year to 544 so far this year,” he said. Shah stated that 765 people in Jammu and Kashmir had been arrested since August 5 for their alleged involvement in stone-pelting incidents.
“Petrol, diesel, kerosene, cooking gas and rice are adequately available. Around 22 lakh metric ton apples are expected to be produced. All telephone landlines are open,” Shah said.
He also said all newspapers and TV channels are functioning in Kashmir and there is no decline in the circulation of newspapers. “The situation there was always normal. There were many notions spread all over the world. There is total normalcy prevailing.”
Most of the markets in Srinagar were open from morning to evening. Till midNovember, shopkeepers would open for business for only a couple of hours in the morning. Public transport was plying on the streets of Srinagar and trains were operational in the Valley.
Replying to a question by senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on when internet services will be restored, the minister said the local administration will take a call on it.
“There are activities by Pakistan too in Kashmir region, so keeping security in mind, whenever the local authority deems it fit, a decision will be taken [on resuming internet services],” Shah said.
Internet blockade in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 has been causing enormous hardships to the people, local reports said.
The blockade has disrupted all online activity including booking of flights and hotel reservations, and hundreds of students have not been able to register for admissions outside Kashmir for different courses.
A day after Shah’s statement in Parliament, the government, through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, gave the Supreme Court a detailed account of “normalcy” returning to Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Valley.
Mehta, in a counter to petitions challenging the restrictions imposed on Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370, said these petitions have outlived their relevance as the erstwhile state is returning to normalcy.
“The region is under diktats is a serious allegation levelled by petitioners... post August 5, rights have been conferred on citizens and not taken away,” he said. He insisted the narrative suggesting the entire seven million population is under the shadow of doubt, in the backdrop of these restrictions, is a false notion pedalled by a minority.
Elaborating on the nature of terrorism, Mehta, supporting the restrictions imposed
on the access to the internet in the region, said: “We are victims of cross border terrorism, which infiltrate digitally and not only physically.”
Mehta presented the latest data, on the situation of Kashmir as on November 18, before a bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana. “Orders under section 144 CrPC (on assembly of more five or more persons ) have been removed from all 195 police stations. There has been a decrease in incidents of stone-pelting, 190 incidents reported after August 5 as compared to 802 in 2018. And, all 20,411 schools are open. Nearly 99% students appeared in senior secondary examination,” he told the court.