The number of stone-throwing incidents in the Kashmir Valley has come down after August 5 when Jammu and Kashmir was put under lock-down after its special status was revoked, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The government admitted that pellet guns were used as a “matter of abundant caution” only to deal with “severe law and order problems and to avoid civilian causalities”.
In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy said that from August 5 to November 15, 765 persons were arrested in 190 cases of “stone-throwing and law and order”. He said 361 such cases were registered from January 1 to August 4 this year. The number of arrests during this period was not provided.
“The government has initiated multi-pronged policies to check the menace of stone-throwing and succeeded in curbing it to the extent that a large number of troublemakers and instigators has been identified, and preventive measures, including detention under the Public Safety Act, have been taken against them,” Mr. Reddy said. He said an investigation revealed that separatist organisations and activists, part of the Hurriyat Conference, were behind the incidents of stone-pelting.
The NIA had charge-sheeted 18 persons in the terror-funding cases so far, he said.
Mr. Reddy said that initially student attendance in the Valley was thin, but it picked up gradually and stood at 99.7% during the ongoing examinations. He said 34,10,219 tourists, including 12,934 foreigners, visited Jammu and Kashmir in the past six months, and ₹25.12 crore was earned from tourism.
To another question, the government said 950 incidents of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control from across the border were reported from August 1 and October 31.
