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Restrictions eased as schools in Jammu open; Kashmir stays calm
The situation in Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Reasi and Udhampur districts was normal, officials said. Restrictions, however, continued to be in place in Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts.
Ahead of Eid next week, the administration has lifted prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in Jammu, where educational institutions reopened on Saturday, signalling the region is returning to normality after a five-day lockdown. Prohibitory orders barring assembly of five or more had been imposed, and schools and colleges shut since Monday, ahead of Parliament’s revocation of Article 370, which conferred special status on Jammu and Kashmir, and passage of a bill dividing the state into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh.
The situation in Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Reasi and Udhampur districts was normal, officials said. Restrictions, however, continued to be in place in Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts.
Kishtwar deputy commissioner Angrez Singh Rana said the curfew was relaxed for one hour on Friday. The situation remained peaceful, he said.
Mobile internet services still remained snapped across the region to avoid the spread of provocative rumours.
In the Kashmir Valley, too, restrictions were eased in several parts to facilitate the movement of people to buy essentials and items for Eid-ul-Azha. But only a few shops selling bakery items, groceries and mutton were open. At markets, sacrificial animals were being sold, but there were not many takers.
Eid-ul-Azha, or the festival of sacrifice also known as Bakri Eid, will be celebrated on Monday and Tuesday.
Restrictions were eased in parts of Srinagar and most of the rural townships. The additional checkpoints and barricades that had been setup in the past five days were removed on Saturday.
In Srinagar and rural towns, there were long queues of people outside ATMs and banks, which were functioning. At many petrol pumps, people made queues to buy petrol and diesel.
Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik reviewed preparations for the Eid celebrations and also health care facilities in hospitals in the city. “People should celebrate Eid without fear, and peacefully,” he said.
But in Delhi, the Editors Guild of India expressed concerns over the shutdown in communication links with the Kashmir Valley and the consequent “curtailment of the media’s freedom and ability” to report on the developments there. The guild said the lockdown was “total and draconian” for the local media that were the first eyes and ears.
