April 08
Former Jammu Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has questioned the government over allowing the movement of convoys of the security forces on Mondays, asking how civilian traffic threatened them on Sunday and Wednesday.
“If it is safe for SF convoys to move on Monday WITHOUT closing the highway to civilian traffic why is it not safe on Wednesdays & Sundays? Nothing proves the mindlessness of the order more than army movement on “unsafe” days. This road is part of the highway by the way,” Omar wrote on Twitter.
“Here’s another full strength convoy. I’m simply trying to highlight the point that the architects of the highway closure have made no application of mind. Somehow this convoy on the highway is safe today but it wouldn’t have been yesterday & won’t be on Wednesday,” Omar said, in another tweet.
On Sunday, the civilian population faced lot of problems due to the banning of civilian movement on the highway.
To facilitate the movement of security convoys for the parliamentary polls starting April 11, the government has banned civilian traffic twice a week (from 4 am to 5 pm on Sunday and Wednesday) on a 270-km stretch of the highway from Udhampur in Jammu to Baramulla in Kashmir.
The order shall remain in force till May 31.