Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu was placed under house arrest after returning from Delhi on Tuesday, 3 September, for criticising the abrogation of Article 370 and saying that a lot of families are not able to communicate with their loved ones due to the Centre's decision.
Mattu, who is also the spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference, was in Delhi for medical treatment. The Centre had restricted his movements in the days following its decision to scrap Jammu and Kashmir's special status on 5 August.
In an interview with NDTV, Mattu had on Monday, 2 September, criticised the ongoing clampdown on Kashmir and the detention of its political leaders.
In the interview, Mattu said that the narrative of the administration and the police has been pure operational mechanisms. “The absence of dead bodies and blood on the streets doesn't mean that everything is normal and the people are happy,” he told the news channel on Monday.
“For anyone to say everything is normal is highly unrealistic.”Junaid Mattu, Mayor, Srinagar to NDTV
He had said that while there may not be any dead bodies lying on the streets, assuming that Kashmir has restored normalcy would be highly unrealistic.
“While the communication blackout has created a situation where specifics are speculative, it is safe to assume the ground situation can’t possibly be anywhere near normal.”Junaid Mattu to NDTV
Mattu also said that his party will challenge the centre’s move to abrogate the Article 370. "We have consulted senior-most constitutional experts and luminaries and will be contesting the move in the Supreme Court. Our party Chairman (Sajjad Gani Lone) has, before he was arrested, appealed to the people to maintain calm and not resort to any violent means of expressing their anguish and sense of loss," he said.
(With inputs from IANS and NDTV)
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