As the Union government has put the state of Jammu and Kashmir on high alert following security threats, panic-stricken Kashmiri politicians have appealed to the Prime Minister not to tinker with the special status of the state.
Reportedly, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that the “sacrifices” of the people of Jammu and Kashmir do not go waste.
“I appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to tinker with Jammu and Kashmir’s special status,” she said.
Late on Friday night, a delegation of political leaders including Mehbooba Mufti, Shah Faesal, Sajjad Lone and Imran Ansari met Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik. The delegation had visited Governor to express concerns about the panic situation in Kashmir create after the advisory issued by the government asking Amarnath Yatris and tourists to return as soon as possible.
There are many rumours being spread in the social media claiming that the state of Jammu and Kashmir would be trifurcated to make Jammu a separate state while giving the status of Union territory to both Kashmir and Ladakh region. Earlier, there were also reports that the Union government was propping up security following their decision to abrogate controversial provisions of Article 35A and Article 370, which gives special rights to the residents of the state. However, the Army clarified that the heavy security deployment is due to the intelligence inputs regarding terror strike.
Meanwhile, the Indian Armed Forces have been put on high alert. The airbases and military installations in Jammu have been asked to remain ready with additional deployment troops on borders and sensitive locations,” reported Greater Kashmir.
“Jammu Air Force station put on ultra alert since morning with drones hovering over and around air force station and Jammu’s only civil airport,” the report says. Republic TV is also reporting that about 20,000 Amarnath pilgrims are being airlifted.
There are also rumours being spread that the non-local students of NIT Srinagar have been asked to move out of Srinagar. Haziq Qadri, a journalist at Brut India, posted a video showing some students of the NIT moving out of their hostels.
Video: Non local students being moved out of NIT Srinagar this morning. #Kashmir #KashmirIssue pic.twitter.com/hsj4jogk5n
— Haziq Qadri (@haziq_qadri) August 3, 2019
However, the Srinagar administration has now cleared the air after he cited the reason for suspending classwork in its notice is a case of miscommunication where NIT Srinagar mistook advice for watchfulness issued to all educational institutions in the district in view of the prevailing situation for an instruction to suspend classwork.
On Friday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had issued a security advisory for the Amarnath yatra pilgrims, citing terror threat in the Kashmir valley. The advisory asked the tourists and the Amarnath pilgrims in the Valley to curtail their trip and “leave as soon as possible”.
The Amarnath Yatra has been suspended since Sunday due to bad weather conditions on the route and mudslides. On Friday, the Indian Army held a press conference at Srinagar where Gen KJS Dhillon, the commander of Chinar Corps revealed that an American M-24 sniper rifle and Pakistan made mines have been recovered from the Amarnath Yatra route.
