Members of a chosen group of sarpanches and represenatives of civil society met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday in Delhi.
A member of the delegation, chosen by the office of Baseer Khan, the divisional commissioner of Kashmir, said, “The meeting with the Home Minister went on for 40 minutes. Most of the sarpanches spoke about micro issues, no one raised the issue of clampdown. The Home Minister told the sarpanches that he will make Kashmir a place where they don’t need security at all.”
Another member of the delegation, who did not wish to be identified, said shopkeepers were scared to open their shops.
“People are scared. Some shops used to open in the evening hours, but police came and told them that if they cannot open their shops during the day then they wont be allowed to operate in the evening. This is why civil curfew has been imposed by people,” the member said.
Samir, a businessman said, “I believe in democracy, not gun culture.”