Stone-pelting incidents in the Kashmir valley has dipped under direct federal rule compared to the number reported under the two previous political administrations — the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party (PDP-BJP) coalition that was in power between 2015 and mid-2018, and the National Conference-Indian National Congress (NC-INC) alliance that stayed in office between 2009 and 2014.
Governor’s rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir on June 18, 2018 after the BJP withdrew support to the PDP, forcing chief minister Mehbooba Mufti to resign. A total of 349 stone-pelting cases were registered in the remaining part of last year. Thus far in 2019 (until July 17), there have been 355 incidents of stone-pelting. The state is currently under President’s rule.
According to data reviewed by Hindustan Times, the total number of stone-pelting cases registered under the NC-INC regime between 2009 and 2014 was 2,690 with a spike in 2010, when protests took place against alleged killings by the army in the Macchil sector.
The PDP-BJP government, headed initially by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and then, after his death, by his daughter Mehbooba Mufti, recorded a high of 4,522 cases against stone-pelters with a huge spike of 2,897 cases in 2016 amid widespread protests over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces and rising disgruntlement against the PDP for joining hands with the BJP.
The data shows that the average number of daily incidents was the highest under the PDP-BJP government, although the spikes mentioned above had a part to play in that. The average number of daily incidents was the lowest during the NC-INC government between 2009 and 2014 — when the state went through a period of relative calm before Wani’s killing — as compared to the periods under the PDP-BJP?regime and Governor’s rule.
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