‘Govt has succeeded in breaking back of terrorism’
Militants hitting soft targets to derail peace process
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Aug 23: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has said that during last Parliament elections when Article 370 was intact, there were 32,000 outside voters in Jammu and Kashmir and the number hasn’t increased even by 100 after scrapping of special status of erstwhile State.
Click here to watch video
In an interview to a national newspaper, Sinha said there were 32,000 outside voters registered in Jammu and Kashmir when last Parliament elections were held and Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which granted special status to erstwhile State, was intact.
“You can check the electoral rolls. After all these years, not even 100 outside voters have enrolled themselves. There is just propaganda about change in demographic character. How it can be changed when additional registered outsider votes have not increased beyond 100?” he asked.
The Government as well as Election Commission officials have issued series of clarifications on this issue. However, an All Party Meeting was yesterday held in Kashmir despite Government clarifications which was chaired by National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah on the issue of “outside voters”. Besides Government, the BJP has also strongly countered the propaganda.
Asserting that the Government has been successful in breaking back of terrorism, the Lieutenant Governor said between January and August this year, 136 terrorists have been killed in Kashmir.
“Such a statistic has not been seen. Now, we are attacking entire ecosystem. There was a time when schools, colleges and shops would remain shut. Children couldn’t study. But now this is a thing of the past. There is no stone-pelting; colleges and schools are open and business is being done smoothly,” Sinha said.
However, he added that many don’t like this but there is no need to fall into their trap.
The Lieutenant Governor described attacks on Kashmiri Pandits as a conspiracy by the elements who don’t like the fact that 11.6 million tourists have visited Kashmir and massive infrastructural development is going on.
“Also, new projects are being set up both by the Government as well as private sector . To derail this process, the militants are identifying soft targets and attacking them,” he said.
On conduct of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Sinha said the Election Commission of India is in the process of revision of electoral rolls.
“The Election Commission has to conduct the elections. Once electoral rolls are updated, dates for the elections will be announced by the ECI at an appropriate time,” he added.
On democracy, the Lieutenant Governor said everyone has full freedom to participate in political activity. Elections for all three-tiers of Panchayats have been completed. There was unprecedented turnout in the polls.
“The Panchayat representatives decide how to spend funds. There are about 20,000 works that fall under the domain in Panchayats and district level representatives. This is precisely what democracy is.
“Moreover, five Members of Parliament are representing Jammu and Kashmir. The Home Minister has stated in the Parliament that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after delimitation of Assembly constituencies,” Sinha said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
