No bodies on streets doesn’t mean all normal, says Mayor of Srinagar, slams Modi govt

Junaid Azim Mattu, Mayor of Srinagar said that while there may not be any dead bodies lying on the streets of Kashmir, assuming that it has returned to normal would be highly unrealistic.

According to a report in NDTV, Mattu said, "Containing a sentiment in the aftermath of a radical decision by enforcing a clampdown doesn't mean that the situation is normal. The BJP government's policy of detainment seems to be a purely operational one.”

Mayors of Jammu and Srinagar were given equal status to Minister of State (MoS) through a central government order in August 2019 after its decision of scrapping of special status given to Jammu and Kashmir. However, Mayor of Srinagar has remained critical of Modi government's handling of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, reported NDTV

Srinagar’s Mayor is also the spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC).

Mattu also condemned the Modi government decision of putting mainstream political leader under arrest.

"Over the years, political activists in Kashmir have braved threats and violence by terrorist elements to survive in the mainstream. But today, they are hunted and hounded," he said.

JKPC chief Sajjad Lone was among those taken into custody ahead of the centre's move on Jammu and Kashmir.

Srinagar’s Mayor also slammed clampdown imposed on Kashmir. "There are still a lot of families that haven't been able to communicate with their loved ones," Mattu said.

"We have always lived with a very palpable threat of violence, that's not a new scenario. But to use that to justify the withdrawal of fundamental rights... that's at the very core of alienation in Kashmir," said Mattu.