In the first major reconciliatory steps, the J&K government on Wednesday decided to immediately release 52 youth, including 31 students, who were arrested on charges of stone-pelting during the ongoing unrest, and formed two provincial committees to review areas declared as disturbed under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
These were among the decisions announced by state home commissioner B.R. Sharma after the meeting of Unified Headquarters (UHQ), which was chaired by CM Omar Abdullah.
“The state government will immediately release youth who have been arrested for stone-pelting. They will be handed over to their parents on the assurance of good conduct in future,” Mr Sharma said.
He said two committees — comprising senior civil, Army and police officers — one each for the Valley and Jammu province, were constituted to review areas, which have been declared as disturbed under the AFSPA. “The committees will carry out a review and submit their recommendations to the apex committee, which has been constituted under the chairmanship of the CM,” he said. —PTI