Srinagar: The National Conference (NC) on Thursday said that the Government of India was selling normalcy of compulsion to the European-African delegation that has arrived in Kashmir. The NC termed the entire exercise as futile and said that such tours have become part of the new normal in Kashmir.
“Such tours are conducted to reinforce the impression that everything is normal in Jammu and Kashmir while the reality on the ground is different,” said party’s additional spokesperson Sarah Hayat Shah. “We saw how a far-right group of the EU was roped by the GOI previously to help them get diplomatic dividends. The entire exercise, however, failed to fetch anticipated results. On the contrary, the decision drew slack internationally and nationally in wake of denying the same privilege to the country’s parliamentarians. These curative tours serve no purpose because the visiting delegation is allowed to meet only hand-picked individuals,” Shah said.
“The government has misread eerie calm in Jammu and Kashmir as peace. The silence after the abrogation of Articles 370, 35-A is no indicator of peace. The ruling dispensation at New Delhi is under false impression that they have silenced Kashmir by the harshest clampdown post August 5 but that is tantamount to living in denial. Since the state was unilaterally dismembered and sheared of its unique status there has been a spurt in violence related incidents. Nearly 400 people including 200 security forces have lost their lives. There is no semblance of peace and stability in Jammu and Kashmir,” Shah said.

KR Desk