Normalcy not fully restored in J&K yet: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah

Srinagar : Normalcy has not been fully restored in Jammu and Kashmir yet as terror attacks continue to take place but the process for establishing peace is underway, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Friday.

Abdullah’s remarks came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Article 370 had sowed the seeds of separatism in the minds of Kashmir’s youth and that the Narendra Modi government not only ended terrorism in the valley but also the terror ecosystem.

“I do not want to say anything on that (Shah’s statement). (But), today also, reports come from some places when attacks take place. Normalcy has not been fully restored in Jammu and Kashmir even today. It is a process and we will have to see what happens in the coming days,” Abdullah told reporters.

The chief minister also trashed rumours that Jammu and Kashmir’s name was being changed to “Kashyap”.

“There is nothing like that. Some media house ran it but then corrected it. No such proposal is there and it anyways cannot happen without the consent of the Jammu and Kashmir government,” he added.

Asked about the government’s preparations in view of the forecast of snowfall, Abdullah said the administration was ready to deal with it.

“We will deal with it. We are prepared, we have had several meetings and we also have experience after the last snowfall. If there were any lacunae last time, we will correct that this time,” he said.

To a question about the electricity supply situation in the valley, the chief minister said whatever could be done was being done and the power situation this year was better than the previous years.

“(Power) cuts are taking place but attempts are being made to provide electricity to people according to the schedule. When there is a problem in the system, it is rectified at the earliest,” he said. — (PTI)