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Updated: Jun 09, 2020 03:36 IST

The Congress party on Saturday condemned the Centre’s decision to curtail Amarnath Yatra and said the entire country is worried. The party also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should make a statement in Parliament on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference at the Congress office in New Delhi, senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Amarnath Yatra has never been curtailed, even when the pilgrimage was targeted by terrorists.

Watch | Amarnath Yatra never canceled before: Congress on Home Ministry’s advisory

Hitting out at the government, Azad said, “the advisory that was issued by the Home Ministry yesterday is worrisome and people of the entire nation as well as of Jammu & Kashmir are scared. No government has ever asked tourists to go back. Such thing has never happened.”

On Friday, the Centre cancelled the Amarnath yatra and advised pilgrims and tourists to curtail their stay in the Valley “immediately”, keeping in view the “latest intelligence inputs of terror threats”.

“The Prime Minister should make statements in both houses of Parliament on current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. It’s his duty,” Azad said.

He also said that the government should clarify why additional paramilitary forces were sent to the state.

Soon after Congress’s press conference, Jammu-Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik called the deployment of security forces in the Valley “a very routine thing”. He said situation in Jammu-Kashmir is normal and “only rumour mongering is going on.”

“If you sneeze at Lal Chowk, it becomes an explosion when it comes here. Unnecessary panic is being created by vested interests, especially some political parties,” said governor Satya Pal Malik.

Earlier in the day, National Conference leader and former J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah along with his senior party leaders held a meeting with the governor at Raj Bhawan. After the meeting, Omar Abdullah said that the Centre should clear the air about the current situation in Kashmir.

“We met him to know what is happening in Kashmir. Governor Satya Pal Malik reiterated yesterday’s assurance. We asked governor about 35A, 370 delimitation and trifurcation of the state. He (governor) assured that there is no forward movement on these issues. To assuage people, the Governor is going to issue a statement,” said Abdullah.

The governor told the delegation that he has no knowledge of any changes to constitutional provisions in the state.

On Friday night, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti along with Sajjad Lone, Imran Reza Ansari and Shah Faesal had a brief meeting with the governor at Raj Bhawan.

The government’s advisory triggered a rush of outbound passengers from Srinagar. Following Friday’s advisory, the administration made arrangements to ferry tourists outside the Valley in buses and by air.

On Saturday, dozens of tourists and yatris were waiting outside the tourist reception centre in Srinagar looking for means of transport to leave the Valley. Officials said that the Centre has also arranged buses to move tourists to the Srinagar and Jammu airports.

Several tourists had to pay extra for air tickets to fly out of Kashmir as average air fares to and from Srinagar were increased after the Centre’s advisory.