NEW DELHI: As many as 765 persons have been arrested in 190 cases registered relating to stone-pelting and disruption of law and order in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 provisions till November 15, according to the Centre.
In comparison, 361 such cases were registered from January 1 to August 4, according to the Union Home ministry. The government, however, did not mention how many people were arrested for stone pelting before its August 5 move of bifurcating the state.
It also informed Parliament that a total of 34 lakh tourists, including 12,934 foreign tourists, visited J&K during the last six months and an income of Rs 25.12 crore was generated through tourism during this period. In the run-up to the August 5 enactment of the J&K Reorganisation Bill, the government had suspended the Amarnath Yatra, advising tourists to return. The advisory was revoked a month ago.
Responding to another question over abrogation of Article 370, Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said attendance of students initially was thin in J&K schools, but it gradually picked up. It currently stood at 99.7% during the ongoing exams. To a question related to the use of pellet guns since August 5, Reddy said they were used with abundant caution, only to deal with severe law-and-order problems to avoid civilian casualties.
Responding to a question by BJP MP Kanak Mal Katara, MoS Reddy said the government had adopted multi-pronged policies to check stone pelting and had succeeded in curbing it to the extent that a large number of troublemakers, instigators and mob-mobilisers were identified and various preventive measures taken against them. “Investigation has revealed that various separatist organisations and activists, which are part of the Hurriyat, have been behind the incidents of stone pelting in Valley,” he said.