5K Arrests in J&K Since 4 Aug, Internet to Resume Soon: Govt in RS

Amit Shah took questions on the Internet shutdown, loss of education, and the law and order situation in the area.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addresses questions on Kashmir in Rajya Sabha.

(Photo: PTI)

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Wednesday, 20 November, took questions on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir during the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament.

Reiterating that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is “normal,” Shah told Rajya Sabha that Internet facilities will be restored at an “appropriate time” with inputs from the local administration.

Meanwhile, a total of 5,161 “preventive arrests” have been made in Kashmir Valley since the eve of the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir in August, which includes politicians, separatists and stone-pelters, the government informed Parliament.

Out of these, Union Minister Kishan Reddy said, 609 persons are presently under detention, out of which approximately 218 are stone pelters.

Shah said that the situation in the area is normal because Section 144 isn’t imposed anywhere. “Not one, among the 195 police stations have imposed Section 144 at the moment,” Shah said.

Azad Questions Shah’s Claims

On education, Shah said that there was about 98 percent attendance in the board examination. Hence, there is no clear indicator of a loss in education. This, however, was countered by Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad as saying that the attendance was for the exams, not working school days.

Further, Azad also questioned how the internet is crucial towards education in these times. Shah reiterated that the administration will decide when it’s appropriate to restore the internet, regardless.

On the law and order situation, he said that since the abrogation of Article 370, not even a single person has died in police firing.

“People in this house were predicting bloodshed but I am happy to inform that no one has died in police firing. Incidents of stone pelting have also declined.”

Amit Shah, Union Home Minister

‘NRC Across India, No Need to Worry’

“The NRC process will be carried out across India,” Shah said in Rajya Sabha while making it clear that there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion.

Shah said that the government accepts that refugees – Hindu, Buddhists, Jain, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis – who left Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious atrocities should get Indian citizenship.

“The process of National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be carried out across the country. No one irrespective of their religion should be worried. It is just a process to get everyone under the NRC,” he said replying to a supplementary during Question Hour in the Upper House.

He said there is no provision in NRC that people belonging to other religions will not be included in the register, adding that NRC is different from the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).

(With inputs from PTI)