Jaishankar says that many restrictions have been rolled back, landlines and some mobile towers have been restored and economic activity has resumed
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar asserted that Kashmir was "in a mess" before the Centre decided to end the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.
Speaking at an interactive session in New York, the US, the EAM said that many restrictions have been rolled back, landlines and some mobile towers have been restored and economic activity has resumed. He added that they were implemented in the first place to prevent the loss of lives. He spoke in the event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other world leaders were gathered for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session on Wednesday.
"As many as 42,000 people were killed in the last 30 years. The level of intimidation had reached a height, where senior police officers were lynched on the streets of Srinagar. Journalists who wrote against separatism were assassinated, military personnel returning home for Eid were kidnapped and killed. So, prior to August 5, Kashmir was in a mess," Jaishankar emphasised.
"We had the experience of 2016 when a self-advertised terrorist cult figure, Burhan Wani, was killed and after that, there was a spike in violence. Our intention was to manage the situation (after the Article 370 decision) without the loss of life and restrictions were there to do that," he said at the interactive session with Frank G. Wisner, a former US Ambassador to India.
The minister said that particular efforts are being made to keep the supplies normal in the state. He also explained how Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India after the country gained freedom in 1947 and the drafting of Article 370. The temporary provision in the Constitution "allowed a set of the narrow elite to arbitrage Article 370 for monopolising political power and creating a closed loop politics," he added.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "S Jaishankar")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}