Srinagar: Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that security situation in Kashmir has improved and normalcy has been achieved after abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
While presenting the budget for Jammu and Kashmir UT in Parliament on Monday, the finance minister shared figures about the incidents of stone pelting from 2010 and said that such incidents have been brought to a steep decline. “Jammu and Kashmir was not normal under Article 370...there was fake normalcy prior to abrogation of Article 370....post abrogation there is no fake normalcy,” she said. She added that 890 central laws became applicable in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370.
"The Union Territory has witnessed a 90% decrease in ceasefire violation as it reduced from 900 in 2020 to 98 in 2021," she said, adding, terrorism has been contained and infiltration has declined significantly.
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Reacting to the statement of the finance minister, regional political parties and panchayat members said the claims about the security improvement are far from reality.
"When we see the security from the law and order and stone pelting incidents, there is an improvement since August 5, 2019. But the overall security situation has not improved so much that we can call it normalcy," former minister and Apni Party leader, Ghulam Hassan Mir told ETV Bharat. Peoples Democratic Party leader Rouf Bhat said that if the situation has improved in Kashmir as claimed by the finance minister, then why killings of civilians and violent incidents have become a daily affair in the valley?
"The security footprint has been increased after the abrogation of Article 370 and in every lane and road we are seeing security barricades and checkpoints. If there was normalcy and security improvement, why is there an increase in security presence in the Valley," Bhat asked.
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Panchayat members in Kashmir said that for them the security situation has not improved as their colleagues are targeted frequently by militants. "In the last week, three of our colleagues were killed in Kashmir. The administration also claims that panchayat members are safe and at secure places, but the facts on the ground are different than the claims," Ghulam Hassan Panzoo, a sarpanch told ETV Bharat.
In the last two weeks, three panchayat members and two security persons on leave were killed in different parts of the valley triggering fear and alarm among the people.
