Calling the speculations about the delimitation of Assembly constituencies in Jammu Kashmir as mere ‘rumours’ Governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday said that delimitation will not take place in one day.
“Delimitation is not a one-day process, it's a constitutional matter, even the Home Ministry has not confirmed it. Right now these are only rumours,” Governor Malik said while addressing a press conference at SKICC, Srinagar.
Governor Malik, flanked by his advisors, was addressing a press conference detailing the measures and developments undertaken by the Governor administration since the fall of BJP-PDP government in June 2018.
Earlier, mainstream parties in Kashmir had reacted sharply to reports that the central government was planning delimitation in the state and termed the attempt of delimitation as the partition of state on communal lines.
Responding to the question of likelihood of Assembly elections in the valley in the near future, Governor Malik said, “Elections in Jammu Kashmir will be decided by the Election Commission of India.”
Chief Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam said that the decision on Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir has already been communicated by ECI some days ago.
“ECI recently said that the decision of holding Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be taken after the conclusion of Amarnath Yatra,” he said.
On the current political instability in Kashmir, Governor Malik said that situation is better than before.
“The militant recruitment has gone down and also the shelf life of militants these days is much less than before,” he said.
Blaming the mainstream political parties of lying to people of Jammu and Kashmir for the last 50 years, Governor said the ‘lies of these politicians is the reason for political instability in the region.”
Taking a dig at Pakistan, Governor Malik said that they (Pakistan) have realized that they cannot succeed at breaking India.
“There is fatigue among militants and the current insurgency in Kashmir. Militants should know that nothing will come out of the gun,” he said, adding, “therefore we should not eulogize and congratulate militants.”
Citing the example of LTTE (The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in Sri Lanka as the failure of insurgency, Governor Malik said, “LTTE had the support of 10 countries but still they did not succeed.”
Appealing people to vote and shun violence, Governor Malik said, “Vote is the ultimate weapon, not gun.”