J&K erupts over highway curbs

Omar Abdullah said that since there are no alternate routes the road closure will shut all the access to the Valley.

Update: 2019-04-04 19:46 GMT
A convoy of Indian Army soldiers patrol the town where the headquarters of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect is based, in Sirsa, Haryana, on Saturday. (Photo: AP)

SRINAGAR: There has been strong reaction by political parties and also online in Jammu and Kashmir to the State government’s decision to ban civilian traffic on vital Baramulla-Jammu highway twice weekly to facilitate movement of security forces’ convoy.

An official spokesman in Jammu said, “No civilian traffic movement will be allowed along the highway on Sundays and Wednesdays between 4 am and 5 pm.” He said that the decision has been taken “keeping in view the large movement of security forces on the national highway during the parliamentary elections and associated possibility of fidayeen terror attack on security forces’ convoys”.

Reacting to the move, former chief minister and president of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, “Last I checked, we were a democracy. But this sounds like a diktat of Martial Law. After bringing Kashmir to the brink, the administration is adamant on ensuring collective punishment for Kashmiris.”

National Conference leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah said that since there are no alternate routes the road closure will shut all the access to the Valley. Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter.com, he said J&K is not Chhattisgarh or Andhra Pradesh where there are alternate routes and, therefore, if the Baramulla-Jammu highway is closed everything will shut down in the Valley.

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