Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and several other PDP leaders were put under house arrest on Saturday on the 4th anniversary of abrogation of Article 370 and 35A.

Mehbooba posted on the social media photo of the gate of her house locked by security forces to prevent her from moving out and wrote on Twitter; “I’ve been put under house arrest along with other senior PDP leaders today. This comes after a midnight crackdown where scores of my party men are illegally detained in police stations. GOIs false claims about normalcy to the SC stands exposed by their actions driven by paranoia”.

PDP had sought permission to hold a seminar on abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir but the Srinagar administration refused to allow that. However, BJP was allowed to hold a seminar in Jawahar Nagar locality to celebrate abrogation of Article 370.

Several leaders and activists of the BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit, led by general secretary organisation, Ashok Koul, participated in the seminar. BJP leaders said a lot of development has taken place in J&K during past four years.

The Modi government had on 19 August 2019 abrogated the Articles 370 and 35A and split the state into two Union Territories–J&K and Ladakh.

Mehbooba wrote; “On one hand, giant hoardings calling upon Kashmiris to ‘celebrate’ the illegal abrogation of Article 370 have been put up across Srinagar. Whereas brute force is being used to choke the actual sentiment of the people. Hope the Hon’ble SC takes cognisance of these developments at a time when Article 370 has come up for hearing”.

“BJP is given a free run to carry out the tamasha of celebrating illegal abrogation of Article 370 in Srinagar. All this is being done to hoodwink the public opinion in the country. Just goes on to expose the facade of normalcy – a fake narrative to justify their illegal actions”, Mehbooba wrote.

Reacting to a report on ndtv about what has changed In Kashmir in the 4 years after abrogation of Article 370, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said; “On a day 3 soldiers laid down their lives in the line of duty in Kashmir we are treated to this puff piece by the latest entrant into the ranks of godi media. Amazingly all the infrastructure projects they have highlighted here came before 2019, the roads & tunnels were started thanks to Dr Manmohan Singh, as was the Chenab railway bridge. The Gulmarg gondola was conceived & inaugurated when Dr Farooq Abdullah was CM”.

Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone wrote on Twitter; “August 5 is a sad day. A sad reminder of the disempowerment of the people of J and K. The process of disempowerment continues. And the belittling of institutions, individuals and the people of J and K continues.

For those patting their own backs and believing in their own fiction — don’t mistake fear for consent”.

Meanwhile, a government spokesman said uninterrupted development in J&K and Ladakh has been witnessed after abrogation of Article 370.

A noticeable decline in terror incidents emerged in J&K. Enhanced security measures and resilient strategies paved the path to peace.

Chairman cum chief executive councillor of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, Tashi Gyalson said; “We have come a long way, charting a new path of success & growth based on the aspirations of the people in this new UT of Ladakh”.