At a check post in Srinagar, Sunday. (Shuaib Masoodi)THE Jammu and Kashmir government asserted on Sunday that it had sought adjournment of a hearing on the contentious Article 35A in the Supreme Court. “Our stand is clear on it. We have requested the Supreme Court to defer the hearing,” Rohit Kansal, the newly appointed spokesperson of the governor's administration in the state, said.
Seeking to quell panic and protests in the Valley sparked by rumours of an ordinance to repeal the Article, a crackdown against separatists and deployment of additional troops, Governor Satya Pal Malik also issued a statement saying the induction of additional forces should be seen only in the context of coming elections.
Replying to a question on whether there was a change in stand of the governor's administration on Article 35A, Kansal said it remained the same, that only an elected government could take a stand on it before the Supreme Court, which is hearing a bunch of petitions challenging its validity. On February 11, the J&K government's counsel had sought the Supreme Court's permission to circulate a letter among the contesting parties for adjourning the coming hearing on pleas challenging the Article, which provides special rights and privileges to natives of the state, saying there was no “elected government” in the state.
Kansal also urged…
