People-Unfriendly Move: Omar Abdullah on J&K Highway Restrictions

The ban would be in force on the two days from 4 am to 5 pm, according to the order.

Photo used for representation.

(Photo Courtesy: Aijaz Dar)

The national highway from Baramulla to Udhampur has been put out of bounds for the civilian traffics on Sundays and Wednesdays till 31 May, a government notification said on Wednesday, 3 April.

The measure has been adopted to facilitate unhindered movement of security forces' convoys to eliminate the possibility of fidayeen terror attacks during the ongoing poll process, said an official.

The ban on civilian traffic would be effective from Baramulla to Udhampur through Srinagar, Qazigund, Jawahar-Tunnel, Banihal and Ramban, the notification said.

The ban would be in force on the two days from 4 am to 5 pm, it added.

In case of any emergency requiring passage of civilian vehicle, the police and administrative officials would take appropriate decisions in line with the provisions of movement of civilian traffic during curfews, the notification said.

During his visit to Kashmir after the 14 February Pulwama terror attack targeting a CRPF convoy which had left 40 security personnel dead, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had announced that no civilian traffic would be allowed during the movement of the paramilitary forces.

On 30 March, in a suspected terror attack, a car had burst into flames after hitting a paramilitary forces' truck, with the driver of the car having gone untraceable. No casualties or damage to the security personnel's vehicle were reported.

The restriction on civilian traffic on the highway was announced two days after state police chief Dilbag Singh on Monday, said a study group has been set up to suggest steps to strengthen the security along the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar highway following the Pulwama terror attack.

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Former chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah slammed the move in multiple tweets, calling it a “people unfriendly way of protecting forces”. He added that it was a “glaring admission of failure to manage the internal security” of Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti also hit out at the move, saying that the administration was “adamant on ensuring collective punishment for Kashmiris.”

She added that the government of India didn’t give “two hoots” about what happened to Kashmir’s people.

"The fundamental rights of people are being tampered with," former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah told PTI.

Such a decision flies in the face of the BJP-led Central government's assertion that the security situation in the state had improved, he said.

"We brought the state from the 1989 turmoil to 2014 when tourism was booming in the state and separatists had become redundant. Look, where we are now?" asked the National Conference patron, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Srinagar.

"We have never seen such a situation. Even during Kargil war when intelligence reports suggested suicide attackers were roaming, such a decision was never taken," he added.

Those who had passed such orders were acting as a rubber stamp for Delhi and only worsening the life of the people in the state, Abdullah alleged.

"The national highway is the lifeline of people. Patients pass (through the highway), marriages take place, tourists come... Those passing such orders must have surrendered their ability to think before acting," he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said it was an inhuman decision by the government. “Stopping the entire traffic on the national highway is a big human rights violation. The civilians will face a lot of trouble and the government should rethink this as it will lead to a crisis,” he said, reported Hindustan Times.

BJP state spokesperson Altaf Thakur called it an unthinkable order. “This is a completely unjustified order aimed to create problems for civilians and should be revoked. Stopping movement of civilian traffic on the national highway is unthinkable and should be revoked,” according to Hindustan Times.

Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Lone also slammed the order. “This certainly will be a first of its kind order and will have disastrous social political and economic consequences. The government should not carve a military identity for itself,” he said, according to the report.

Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairperson Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the administration's decision was "anti-people and dictatorial".

Shuja ul haq, a journalist reporting on the Kashmir conflict, said that it showed how flawed the handling of Kashmir had been.

Author Harinder Baweja tweeted against the move, saying it was the worst anti-people move she had seen in 30 years and that it would lead to further alienation.

Sabbah Haji Baji, director of the Haji Public School also slammed the move.

The JKPCC and CPI(M) demanded immediate revocation of the order banning movement of civilian traffic on the Jammu-Kashmir highway for two days a week, saying the move would "add to the miseries" of people.

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Vice President GN Monga said the party understands the security concern but that does not mean people will be left to suffer. "The ban will add to the miseries of common people who are already suffering immensely due to the prevailing situation in the state," Monga told reporters.

He said, “There must be other methods which can ensure the safety of security convoys, but it should not be done at the cost of a lot of inconvenience to the common people.”

The Congress leader appealed to the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir Governor SP Malik to immediately revoke the order and find out an alternative.

"How will patients reach to hospitals during these two days of ban? How will employees reach to their offices and how will students attend schools and colleges? Stopping traffic for two days looks difficult to manage, because there will be lot of hue and cry," he said.

Senior CPI(M) leader and former MLA MY Tarigami too asked the government to offer alternatives before imposing the ban.

“The decision must be a security issue, but why should a common man be put to avoidable hardships for whom all this security bandobast (arrangement) is meant?” Tarigami questioned.

In a statement issued in Srinagar, the CPI(M) leader said, "What will be the fate of those patients who have to be brought from the other districts of the Valley and need immediate treatment in hospitals in Srinagar? What kind of logic is this? A patient can't wait till a pass is issued, as in some cases, it can prove disastrous and life threatening."

The former legislator from south Kashmir's Kulgam said the convoy movement timing must be devised in a way so as there is no inconvenience to the general public.

Meanwhile, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) also demanded the order be revoked.

KCCI President Sheikh Ashiq said the order was issued without considering its impact on the people of Kashmir and was indicative of the lack of awareness of local issues.

"At a time when the Kashmir Chamber has been raising the issue of lack of alternative routes and means of travel to Kashmir, the closure of the only available road link would put the whole population to unimaginable inconvenience and will have disastrous consequences for our economy," he said.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times and PTI.)