Post-Article 370 abrogation, people living life according to their own wishes: J&K LG Manoj Sinha

Srinagar, Aug 5 (PTI) The biggest change after the abrogation of Article 370 is that the common people of Jammu and Kashmir are living life according to their own wishes, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Saturday, the fourth anniversary of the scrapping of the article.

The Centre on this day in 2019 had revoked Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

“Pakistan-sponsored shutdowns by terrorists and separatists, due to which schools, colleges and business establishments used to remain closed for about 150 days a year, have ended,” Sinha told reporters after an event here.

“The biggest change that is visible on the ground is that the common people of Jammu and Kashmir are living life according to their own wishes. Street violence has ended,” he said.

The lieutenant governor (LG) said the youth of Kashmir are enjoying late night-outs and now spend time at the Poloview market and Jhelum riverfront. The two popular public areas of the city were recently renovated under the Srinagar Smart City project.

“The dreams of the youth of Kashmir have got wings now and in the days to come, their contribution to nation building will not be less than anyone,” Sinha said.

The LG said Jammu and Kashmir will soon regain its lost glory for which it was known across the world.

Earlier, addressing a gathering at the event at the Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of the Dal Lake, Sinha said a lot of changes have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir in the last four years due to “youth power, women power and its farmers”.

“I salute the farmers, the youth, women. This is the power by virtue of which a new Jammu and Kashmir has been made possible. This is the power which has awakened Jammu and Kashmir’s inner powers. It has created a new belief system in society,” he said.

Sinha said last year on August 5, the administration had started “Corruption Free Day” in Jammu and Kashmir.

The LG said it was done as the ecosystems of terror, separatism and corruption had “polluted” Jammu and Kashmir. “People here know better than me. It is very important that this cancerous corruption be treated,” he said.