The Centre ordered a clampdown in the Kashmir Valley before ending Jammu and Kashmir’s special status to avoid the bloody protests and killings that happened in 2016 after the elimination of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, the government’s top law officer told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, who was responding to a petition against the restrictions on movement of people and political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, said 44 lives were lost in street protests that followed the killing of three militants in 2016.
The judges have declined to intervene for now, and will take up the petition against the restrictions after two weeks.
WATCH| ‘Article 370 removal will end terrorism in Kashmir’: Amit Shah
Venugopal said the government had proof that Kashmiri separatists, acting on instructions from across the border, had instigated people to hit the streets in 2016.
It is this situation and loss of life that the government was trying to avoid, the top law officer told a bench led by Justice Arun Mishra.
First Published:
Aug 13, 2019 15:21 IST
Source: HindustanTimes