Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said in Rajya Sabha that the government will restore Internet connection in Kashmir as soon as the local administration feels it is fit to do so. Responding to a series of questions on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir during Question Hour, Shah also asserted that not a single person has died in police firing after August 5 when the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped.
He also said all newspapers and TV channels are functioning in Kashmir and there is no decline in the circulation of newspapers.
"The situation there was always normal. There were many notions spread all over the world. There is total normalcy prevailing. After August 5, not a single person has died in police firing although many feared there would be bloodshed and more number of killings," the Home Minister said.
Replying to a question from Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Minister said that internet services were not allowed in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir in the past too due to security reasons, but assured that the services would be resumed as soon as the situation improved.
Besides internet services, Azad raised the issue of education in the state which has been affected after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A on August 5 this year.
On the issue of imposition of section 144 in Jammu and Kashmir, Amit Shah said that the section was applied in areas under a few police stations only for limited hours -- from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
"In not even one of the total 195 police stations, section 144 is imposed. It has been lifted completely. As precautionary measures, it is imposed only between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and that too in areas of very few police stations," he said.
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