New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said there are no restrictions in the Kashmir Valley now and the entire world has supported the move to abrogate the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.
Shah asserted that Jammu and Kashmir will be the most developed region in the country in the next 10 years because of the bold step taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5. The home minister faulted the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for approaching the United Nations in 1948 on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir
"In 1948, India went to United Nations. That was a Himalayan blunder. It is more than a Himalayan blunder," he said at event organised by Samkalp Former Civil Servants Forum at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) here. The minister accused the opposition of spreading "misinformation" about restrictions in the Valley. "Where are the restrictions? It is only in your mind. There are no restrictions. Only misinformation about restrictions is being spread," he said addressing a seminar on national security.
Shah said curfew has been lifted in all 196 police stations in Kashmir, and only in eight police stations areas CrPC 144 was imposed where five or more persons cannot gather.
"People are free to move around anywhere in Kashmir. Many journalists from rest of India are also visiting Kashmir regularly," he said
Referring to the recently concluded United Nations General Assembly session, Shah said all world leaders have supported India's move on Article 370. "All world leaders had gathered for seven days (in New York). Not a single leader has raised the issue (of Jammu and Kashmir). This is a big diplomatic victory of the prime minister," he said.
The home minister said 41,800 people have lost their lives in the decades-old militancy in Jammu and Kashmir but no one raised the issue of human rights violation of jawans, their widows or the children who were orphaned.
"But people are trying to create hue and cry over lack of mobile connections for few days. Lack of phone connection is not human rights violation," he said.
Shah also said 10,000 new landline connections were given in Jammu and Kashmir while 6,000 PCOs have also come up in the last two months.
"The decision on Article 370 will strengthen the unity and integrity of India," he said, adding the situation in Jammu and Kashmir will be completely normal soon. Shah said there were 631 princely states when India attained independence in 1947 and 630 of them were handled by the then Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and one by Nehru.
"The 630 princely states were merged with the Union of India completely but Jammu and Kashmir remained an issue since 1947," he said.
The home minister said on October 27, 1947, the Indian Army had reached Kashmir and defeated Pakistani attackers. It was marching towards PoK and they were on the verge of victory.
"But suddenly the then government announced ceasefire. What was the need for announcing the ceasefire when we were about to win the war. Had the ceasefire not declared, PoK would have been part of India now," he said.