"No Bodies Doesn't Mean All Normal": Srinagar Mayor Slams Kashmir Move

Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu has said that while there may not be any bodies littering the streets of Kashmir, assuming that it has returned to normal would be "highly unrealistic". "Containing a sentiment in the aftermath of a radical decision by enforcing a clampdown doesn't mean that the situation is normal. The BJP government's policy of detainment seems to be a purely operational one," he said. The mayors of Srinagar and Jammu were granted status equivalent to "Minister of State" through a central order last month, weeks after the Narendra Modi government scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two distinct union territories. Mr Mattu, however, has remained critical of the central government's handling of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.