Street violence has ended completely, according to J&K LG Manoj Sinha; assembly polls are ‘for the EC to decide’

Manoj Sinha, the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir, stated on Sunday that four years after Article 370 was repealed, the era of separatist and terrorist organizations upsetting daily life in the Valley at Pakistan’s urging had passed into history and that now, development and peace are the rage.

When speaking with a group of journalists, Sinha said that the Election Commission would now be solely responsible for deciding whether to conduct assembly elections in the Union territory after the conclusion of the delimitation process and the updating of electoral records.

He noted that over 32,000 elected members of different local bodies play a significant role in the decision-making process in the UT and said, “J&K administration will follow what the Election Commission of India decides.”

He highlighted that Home Minister Amit Shah had promised in Parliament that assembly elections would take place after the delineation exercise and that Jammu and Kashmir will also become a state at the proper time.

In an apparent jab at opposition parties that have been advocating for elections and the restoration of statehood, he added, “If those who have served in constitutional positions and have been members of Parliament don’t understand the constitutional process, then there is no cure for their problems.”

In response to a query regarding ‘targeted murders’, which sometimes target migrant laborers and Kashmiri Pandits, Sinha emphasized the general drop in such terror assaults.

The assumption today is that there won’t be any such attack under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, he added, while before people had come to terms with the regular occurrence of terror acts.

“Such a hope is reasonable. Even while he acknowledged that “chhitput” (sporadic) occurrences sometimes do occur, he stated, “We are attempting to establish an environment where no such incidence occurs.

In a jab at earlier non-BJP administrations, he claimed that while efforts were made to purchase a temporary truce in Jammu and Kashmir, things have changed under Modi’s rule, who wants to completely demolish the “ecosystem” made up of both armed terrorists and those who supported and harbored them.

He said to emphasize the evolving situation that the Ashura procession was finally permitted here during Muharram after 34 years.

The only restriction is that there must not be any disparaging remarks against the nation’s unity and integrity, he stated. People are now free to participate in any religious parade.

In spite of the fact that construction on a new greenfield road between Katra and Delhi is now in full flow, Sinha expressed optimism that Kashmir would be linked to the rest of the nation via rail network by the following year.

In its second term, the Modi administration repealed Article 370, which granted J-K unique privileges, on August 5, 2019, converting the state into a Union territory.

While the opposition parties have criticized these actions, the governing BJP has said that they have ended regular conflict, particularly in the Valley, and ushered in a time of calm and growth.

The average man’s freedom to conduct his life on his terms is a very significant improvement. No one is in charge of this place anymore, according to Sinha.

He said that there was no longer any street violence and that the time when separatist and militant organizations or other groups called for strikes on Pakistan’s behest for more than 150 days per year had come to an end.

He also mentioned the beautification effort taking place in several areas of the capital city of the UT, adding that one may visit Jhelum Riverfront or Polo View Market at night to watch people having fun and see the difference firsthand.

In response to a query regarding the National Conference and PDP, the two major regional parties, criticizing how the Center handled the area, he responded in jest by saying that their words reflect the role they have been playing.

Sinha, a former Union minister who served in the first Modi administration and earned a reputation for efficiency and probity, mentioned a number of development efforts to emphasize the improvements in J-K.

He said that the recent G20 summit in Srinagar was universally praised, and that the area has risen to the top of the UT category for e-governance.

On August 7, 2020, Sinha was elected LG and said that since taking office, his government had added a growing number of services to the Public Services Guarantee Act. There are now 675 services available online, up from 35 in 2019.

Additionally, an auto-escalation procedure has been included, which means that if a citizen’s request for a service is not met within the allotted period, the matter is immediately raised to a higher authority and appropriate action is taken against the offending official.

According to him, over 85% of the work outlined in the PM’s Development Package has been completed, and the UT’s most recent budget was Rs 1.18 lakh crore, 2.5 times more than it was before to 2019.

From 1947 to 2021, when the new industrial scheme was unveiled, the region saw private investment of about Rs 14,000 crore. However, projects worth Rs 26,000 to 27,000 crore are currently underway, and this will rise to Rs 75,000 crore in the next two years, providing direct employment for 5 lakh people, according to him.

Nearly 1,000 of the approximately 1,700 businesses that received land allocations from the government paid the price. Official sources said that more than 127 of them had started manufacturing.