Kashmir Latest News: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has said that unnecessary panic was being created in the Valley by linking the curtailment of Amarnath Yatra and movement of troops with other issues. In a statement issued late on Friday, he urged the political leaders to ask their supporters to maintain calm and to not mix up matters. He also asked them to not believe in exaggerated rumours that are being circulated all around.
“A pure security measure is being mixed up with issues with which it has no connection. That is the cause of the panic,” he said in a statement after a delegation of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, J&K Peoples Movement chief Shah Faesal and Peoples Conference leaders Sajjad Lone and Imran Reza Ansari met the Governor.
The delegation met the Governor as speculations grew in Kashmir about some possible major decisions regarding Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. The delegation expressed concerns about the panic situation in Kashmir created by recent developments which include an advisory asking Amarnath pilgrims and tourists to return as soon as possible.
The statement added that Governor Malik informed the delegation that there were serious and credible inputs which were available to the security agencies regarding terrorist attacks on the Amarnath Yatra. Earlier on Friday, security forces showcased a Pakistan-made mine, sniper rifle and a huge cache of arms recovered from along the Amarnath Yatra route.
“…It is in this context that the government had issued an advisory asking Yatris and tourists to return as soon as possible,” it said.
On Article 35A, the statement said that Governor himself had clarified yesterday in Baramulla and the day before in Srinagar. Malik had said in Baramulla and Srinagar that there were no plans to abrogate Article 35A of the Constitution, which gives special powers to Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Malik, Mehbooba Mufti appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to tinker with the state’s special status and warned that the repercussions of such a move would not be good.