Protests rock Assembly over Army chief’s remarks

Jammu, Jan 15: Protests rocked Jammu and Kashmir Assembly over the remarks of Army chief as the opposition National Conference created ruckus and staged walk out from the House demanding statement from the government over the issue.
Rawat had on Friday said social media and government schools in the state were spreading a “disinformation campaign” resulting in radicalisation of youths.
In his statement, he had also called for “some control” over mosques and madrassas in the state and suggested a “major revamp” of the education system.
As the house assembled for the day, members of NC stood up and raised the issue of remarks of Army chief Lt Gen Bipin Rawat and sought statement from the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti or any other minister.
Notably, the Education Minister of J-K, Altaf Bukhari had then accused the Army of “meddling in the state’s affairs”.
However, contrary to that, the BJP J-K unit spokesperson Brigadier Anil Gupta (retd) in a statement asked “the minister to be pragmatic and accept the reality rather than locking horns” with the Army chief.
Gupta said Gen. Rawat’s remarks should be viewed positively and not turned into a political issue.
Speaking on the issue in Assembly, NC MLA Ali Mohammad Sagar told house that army chief statement is sad and unwarranted and that he should not have given such a statement which send a wrong message to Kashmir. Protests rock J-K