Union Home Ministry on Friday told the Parliamentary standing committee on Home Affairs that the situation in J&K was getting normal after the quashing of Article 370 but did not give any timeframe for the release of the detained political leaders, including former Chief Ministers, as sought by Opposition MPs.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry Gyanesh Kumar and other Ministry officials briefed the Parliamentary standing committee on Home Affairs, chaired by senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, on the situation in the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Opposition MPs quizzed top Government officials on the detention of political leaders, particularly the former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. It is learned that Opposition MPs were agitated while asking questions to the officials on this regard. Responding to questions on the release of the detained political leaders, Bhalla and his team of officers conveyed that some had been released and others will be freed gradually but refrained from giving any time line, sources said.
The Home secretary, sources said, told the MPs that the situation in the UT of J&K is getting normal, schools are open and the apple trade is going on, sources said. The MPs also raised the issue of curbs on the internet in the Valley since August 5. Home Ministry officials, it is learnt, said the restrictions were imposed as the internet could be used by terrorists for subversive activities as well as by anti-social elements to spread rumours.
According to sources present at the meeting, differences between the BJP and the Congress MPs cropped up over the issue of J&K being discussed in the panel. While BJP members cited the rule book to say the panel should not interfere in the work of the executive, Congress MPs said the issue was important and had to be discussed, the sources said.