Won't allow our beloved Kashmir to be turned into an open-air prison: Mehbooba Mufti on J&K highway ban 

Concertina wires and barricades have been put on roads connecting the highway in order to prevent the movement of civilian vehicles.
Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti (File | EPS)
Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti (File | EPS)

SRINAGAR:  As the twice-a-week bar on civilian traffic on the 270-km long Srinagar-Jammu highway came into effect on Sunday, PDP president and former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti asked people to defy the ban and claimed, “Through these measures, Delhi wants to suppress people in the state.”

The decision was taken for the safe passage of military convoys in the aftermath of the February 14 terror attack in Pulwama in which at least 40 CRPF jawans were killed and the recent failed car bombing on a CRPF bus at Banihal, but it caused inconvenience to people as they were confined to their homes due to the restrictions. 

“I had to visit my ailing relative in Anantnag. As I moved out from my residence at Nowgam and plied on the highway, I was stopped by the security men at Lasjan. They did not let me move ahead saying only those having medical emergencies can be allowed to travel today,” Zahoor Ahmad, a private school teacher, said.

The entire stretch from Baramulla up to Udhampur wore a deserted look with only security personnel and security vehicles seen on the otherwise busy highway, which is the only road link connecting the Valley with the rest of the country. 

The leaders of the NC, PDP and Jammu-based National Panthers Party (NPP) staged a protest against the travel ban on the highway.

NC president and former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, who led the protest, said, “It is a wrong order and the law of dictatorship. The troops should use trains or ply during night.”

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