Life Normal In Jammu & Kashmir, UT Tells Apex Court

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has said that there was no undeclared Emergency in the Union Territory and there were no blanket orders that prevented people from gathering under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code. The residents had ‘more rights’ than before and were leading a ‘completely normal life’. Representing the UT, solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, however, told a bench led comprising Justices NV Ramana, BR Gavai and Subhash Reddy that mobile internet and text messaging services were not restored yet but ‘every other service’ were restored. Mehta’s arguments came in response to a slew of petitions which had challenged the blanket restrictions on travel, movement, free speech, and communication lockdown in the UT. The fundamental duty of any government was to protect the life, limb, and property of its citizens, Mehta said. “Fundamental rights of citizens have not been taken away,” he insisted. More rights have been conferred on the residents. The UT was a victim of cross-border terrorism and was under attack physical and digital attack, he said. “Some 71,038 people have been killed in the (erstwhile) state since 1990. This has been the situation since 1947. Let’s not pretend to be ostriches. This has not gone down well only with a minuscule minority. Local separatist sentiments were not allowing things to stabilize,”