According to the sources, Doval was in Kashmir to assess the security situation in the state as it was placed under curfew in the wake of the government’s announcement.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spotted having lunch with local residents in Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir on Aug 7, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval was on Wednesday spotted chatting around and having lunch with the local residents of Shopian in Kashmir in what is being touted as the Centre’s attempt to show that normalcy was slowly returning to the Valley.
The move comes after the government revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. According to the sources, Doval was in Kashmir to assess the security situation in the state as it was placed under curfew in the wake of the government’s announcement. All communication, including the Internet, mobile phones, and landline phones were also snapped.
Doval was, on Wednesday, spotted sitting and interacting with a handful of local people outside shuttered down shops in an empty market place in South Kashmir’s Shopian.
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“The government will make every effort to better the education of the children in the valley. It might not be as good as the private institutes, but you’ll definitely see an improvement,” he told the people.
Earlier, the NSA met Governor Satya Pal Malik at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar. He also addressed groups of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Central Reserve Police Force and the Indian Army personnel to boost their morale in the state’s altered scenario.
The Centre had scrapped Article 370 on Monday, August 5.
Article 370 granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir and limited Parliament’s power to make laws concerning the state. It was incorporated in India’s Constitution in October 1949. It also gave power to the state legislature to define Jammu and Kashmir’s residents and their privileges.
Article 35A was proclaimed by President Rajendra Prasad on 14 May 1954 on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru government to empower the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define the permanent residents of the state and their entitlements. It was drawn from the Delhi Agreement of 1952 and from Article 370.
(With agency inputs)
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