Army chief Bipin Rawat visits Kashmir, reviews operational preparedness

Srinagar, Aug 30: In his first visit after the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Army chief General Bipin Rawat visited Srinagar to review the security situation and preparedness of security forces in the wake of increased ceasefire violations in the valley.

The army chief's visit comes at a time when Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik and Ministry of External Affairs were stressing that normalcy is returning to the Valley.

On Wednesday, Malik had said that there have been no civilian casualties in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.

"We managed to keep things under control during Panchayat elections, Lok Sabha elections and even now. Every Kashmiri life is valuable to us, we don't want the loss of even a single life. There has been no civilian casualty, only the few who got violent are injured," he said in a press conference in Srinagar.

He had announced that the government will open 50 new colleges in the region to enhance educational facilities in the Valley.

Ever since the government announced its move on Article 370, the top brass of the Army has frequently undertaken visits to the Valley to review the security situation.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also camped in the Valley to take stock of the situation on ground and interacted with the locals.

Security was beefed up in the region after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh on 5 August.