Team News Riveting
New Delhi, July 28
The Centre today clarified that the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir would be granted at an appropriate time and only after normalcy was restored in the Union Territory.
The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai in a written reply to question in the Rajya Sabha today said that the Centre would initiate the process only after normalcy was restored in the state.
Jammu and Kashmir lost its statehood following the abrogation of Article 370 and 37A in August 2019. The erstwhile state was then bifurcated into the Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
The opposition parties had been demanding restoration of statehood. During the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, the political parties from Jammu and Kashmir focussed on the issue and demanded that delimitation in the Union Territory should be held only after it got the state status.
Rai said in view of the constitutional changes and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of the Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh, in national interest and also in the interest of security of J&K, temporary restrictions on various communication channels like internet and mobile services were resorted to in Jammu and Kashmir.
Subsequently, the matter was reviewed from time to time and restrictions imposed were gradually eased out in a phased manner and 4G internet data services were restored in the entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from February 5, 2021.
