Satya Pal Malik says situation in Kashmir Valley is 'normal', urges people not to 'pay heed to rumours'

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said on Tuesday that people should not pay heed to rumours of any major decision on the special status of the state as “everything is normal”. “A lot of rumours are spread here, do not pay any heed to them. Everything is fine, everything is normal,” Governor Malik said when asked about the slew of orders appearing on social media about the possibility of a prolonged law and order situation in the Kashmir Valley. [caption id=“attachment_5600381” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik. PTI[/caption] Malik said the orders which had appeared on the social media in recent days were not valid. “No order is valid. If someone catches a sneeze in Lal Chowk, by the time it reaches Governor’s house, it is projected as a bomb blast,” he added. Kashmir has been on the edge for the past week after the Centre decided to send 100 companies of additional Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPFs) to the valley, giving rise to speculations that the BJP-led union government might repeal Article 35-A of the Constitution that provides for special residency and job rights to the people of the state. Over the past three days, several orders issued by state government officials and some central government departments had further fuelled the speculations that a major decision with regard to Jammu and Kashmir was in the offing. While a Railway Protection Force officer had issued an order asking the employees to stock up rations for four months in view of prediction of deteriorating law and order situation, the Senior Superintendent of Police of Srinagar had directed five zonal SPs in the city to collect details of all the mosques and their management committees in their respective areas of jurisdiction and submit it immediately for onward submission to higher authorities. While the railway protection force officer was transferred on Monday, the SSP said collecting information about mosques was a part of routine policing.