Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 was "forced" and not organic, as claimed by the Centre.
Speaking at a media event in Delhi, the J&K CM highlighted that the security situation in Kashmir was far from "normal" which was indicated by the closure of Jama Masjid in Srinagar on Shab-e-Baraat.
"If what is happening today in J&K is organic, then nothing like it. If it is driven out of fear, then there is a problem. Because you can only control a situation through fear for a limited time. If it's organic, it will remain forever. But I will hazard that the security forces and the people don't believe it is organic," he said.
Abdullah remarked in response to a question about the difference in the security situation in Kashmir between 2010, when more than 200 youths died during protests, and the present day. The NDA-led Centre has claimed time and again the reduction in shutdowns and separatist and militant activities after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
To buttress his argument, Abdullah referred to the authorities denying permission to Hurriyat chairperson Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to lead the funeral prayers of his father-in-law at the Jama Masjid.
"If they believed it was organic, they wouldn't have closed Jama Masjid to prevent Mirwaiz Farooq from having his father-in-law's namaz-e-janaza," he said.
"The reason they cited was that they feared a law and order situation breaking out. A law and order situation doesn't break out when normalcy is organic, it breaks out when normalcy is forced. What we have in parts of J&K today is not organic normalcy, it is forced normalcy," Abdullah said.
