A group of mainstream Kashmiri politicians met Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik in Srinagar on Friday night, asking him to address the rumours that had spread alarm across the Valley. The Governor told them that a purely security-related step was being wrongly tied to unrelated matters, and that this was what had caused the panic.

The meeting took place against a backdrop of extra troop deployment, the curtailment of the Amarnath Yatra and little official explanation from the administration, all of which had fuelled talk of a worsening situation in the state.

Who met the Governor and what he said

Those present were Mehbooba Mufti, the PDP chief and a former chief minister; the People’s Conference’s Sajjad Lone and Imran Raza Ansari; and Shah Faesal, who heads the J&K People’s Movement. Mufti later thanked the others on Twitter for accompanying her.

According to a statement released after the talks, Malik told the leaders that security agencies had received “serious and credible inputs” about planned terrorist attacks on the yatra. The statement said pilgrims and tourists, being unfamiliar with the area, were especially exposed to a possible fidayeen strike, and that asking them to leave was a precaution meant to keep them safe.

The Governor asked the politicians to urge their supporters to stay calm and to disregard exaggerated rumours. He repeated that there was no plan to scrap Article 35A of the Constitution, which gives the state and its residents a special status.

Mufti’s appeal to the Prime Minister

Earlier in the day, Mufti told reporters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not interfere with Article 35A. She questioned why, if the Centre wanted to win over Kashmiris, an atmosphere had been created in which people felt their identity was in danger. “The whole territory is with you already,” she said, arguing that the state’s people, not just its land, should matter.

She recalled that Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority state, had turned down the two-nation theory and joined a secular India on the understanding that its distinct identity would be safeguarded. She was briefly prevented from visiting National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah’s home after the press conference, though an official said permission was later given.

In earlier posts on Twitter, Mufti had accused New Delhi of choosing territory over people, warned that using Kashmir to divert attention from a struggling economy would have grave consequences, and described chaotic scenes in Srinagar as residents queued at ATMs and petrol pumps and stocked up on essentials after the advisory.

What happened next

Within days, Parliament ended Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370, on 5-6 August 2019, and the state was reorganised into two union territories.

See also: more election news

Originally published on 3 August 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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