'Hurriyat leader Aziz shot in the back, cops didn’t kill him'

National Security Adviser M K Narayanan refused to agree that the situation in Kashmir is similar to 1990 as is being suggested by various sections.

"I think the situation is far less serious than what is being portrayed but at the same time certainly something that we are very unhappy about," he said on Karan Thapar's Devil's Advocate programme.

"I mean people have started comparing it with the 1990s and what not. Certainly the situation is nowhere around that," Narayanan said.

His comments came even as curfew continued to be imposed in Kashmir for the seventh day after a series of protests spearheaded by separatist leaders.

The National Security Adviser, however, conceded that the recent developments had eroded the signs of improvement in situation in the state.

"No major concern other than day-to-day problems of living, better electricity, internet connection etc. Suddenly these seem to have been sort of pushed into the background and mobs have come out onto the street," he noted.

Narayanan said blockade of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway produced certain ‘concerns’ among people in the Valley but there are visible signs of improvement in the situation and normalcy should return in the state within a week to 10 days.

On the upcoming holy month of Ramazan, he said the Government will have to do ‘relaxation of various kinds and various purposes so normalcy should be round the corner.’

"We are hopeful that this could be achieved in the next one week to 10 days," he said.

The National Security Advisor said the government was trying to pacify the agitators in Jammu so that they don't block the highway.

"In the cold comfort I would say the fact of the matter is that the concern about the blockade could have brought so many people out onto the street is a matter of concern for us. That is why we are placing so much emphasis on reducing the agitation in the Jammu region because as long as that agitation persists, the danger of the likelihood of the crowd coming onto the National Highway (will remain)", he said.

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