The many protests and opposition by politicians failed to move P Chidambaram, who stood firm on Wednesday on the ban on pre-paid mobile SIM cards in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The ban is a well-considered decision and will continue till the situation improves and a mechanism to stop misuse of SIMs is put in place,” he said.
The home minister said service providers will soon present an alternative plan to the government that will take into account security interests as well as the interests of the consumer. “After this, the government will take a decision on replacing it [pre-pare cards] with a perfectly secure system,” he said.
On the Services cricket team pulling out of a match in Srinagar citing security reasons, Chidambaram said the decision was unfortunate and promised that no sporting event scheduled in the city will be called off in future.
“Had the issue come to my notice, it [the pullout] would not have happened. I will see to it that the cricket match takes place in Srinagar. Let us put this incident behind since they [Services] have apologised,” he said.
Chidambaram said militancy was at an all-time low in Kashmir. “The number of militants neutralised is high and the loss of life in the security set-up is at an all-time low.“There is sound leadership in Jammu as far as the security forces are concerned and this is reflected in the good results,” he said.
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