New Delhi: NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat claimed that the suspension of internet services in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 did not have an effect on the Indian economy because it was used to only watch “dirty films”.

VK Saraswat was invited as the Chief Guest on the annual convocation of Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology in Gandhinagar. His response came on a question on why internet services had been suspended in Jammu and Kashmir when he thought telecom was vital for India’s growth.

Watch what VK Saraswat said:

“What difference does it make if there is no internet in Kashmir? What do you watch on the internet there? What e-tailing is happening there? Besides watching dirty films, you do nothing there,” Saraswat said in reply to a reporter’s question on Saturday.

‘Watching dirty films’: Niti Aayog member backs Internet ban in J-K pic.twitter.com/X4ZJ4zmfRb

— Newsroom Post (@NewsroomPostCom) January 19, 2020

Politicians use social media to fuel protests: VK Saraswat

He further slammed politicians who wanted to go to Kashmir by saying, “Why do politicians want to go to Kashmir? They want to re-create the protests happening on the roads of Delhi in Kashmir. They use social media to fuel protests.”

“For the past 3 months protests have been ongoing against CAA on the streets. This led to the loss of man-hours, the shutdown of factories, hospitals and schools. All this has an effect on the GDP. The teachers in government schools are getting paid but classes are not being held, the salaries are being paid but the factories stayed shut, all this adds up,” he said.

NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat: What difference does it make if there’s no internet in Kashmir? What do you watch on internet there? What e-tailing is happening there? Besides watching dirty films, you do nothing there. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/LG81TcuBoA

— ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2020

The NITI Aayog member further spoke about the condition of the economy in the country and said that the “economy around the world, including America, China and other big countries” was on the downward slide.

He, however, added that the economy in India is stable and stressed that the country needed to focus on “standardisation, competitiveness and quality” were needed in the export sector to boost the economy.