E-Paper
Restrictions reimposed in Kashmir
Police and paramilitary forces blocked several roads within the city and pedestrian movement was restricted, with check-points along different roads.
Fresh restrictions were imposed in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley as a preventive measure as there were apprehensions of protests after Friday prayers, officials said.
In the morning, police and paramilitary forces blocked several roads within the city and pedestrian movement was restricted, with check-points along different roads.
The road leading to the office of United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan at Sonwar was also blocked with barbed wire. “We were asked to close the road by seniors,” a policeman said.
Last Friday, some posters had surfaced in the old city areas which asked people to march towards the UN office.
According to local residents, working with an international news outlet, protests erupted in Anchar, in the outskirts of the city, after Friday prayers. Witnesses said that youth pelted stones on security forces which retaliated with pellets and tear gas shells. There were reports of some people sustaining injuries in the protests. However, it was not clear how many people were injured.
“I saw two youth and a woman protester was hit by pellets,” the journalist said. “There were hundreds of protesters,” he said.
However, no official could be contacted for a confirmation due to the communication blockade. The government did not hold a regular news briefing on Friday.
For the fourth time since August 5, when curfew like restrictions were imposed in Kashmir, Friday prayers were not held at prominent mosques in the city, including the Jamia Masjid and Dargah Hazratbal.
Locals said that police closed off the roads leading to Dargah Hazratbal were closed on Thursday evening. People, however, were allowed to offer Friday prayers in their local mosques.
Yasir Ahmad, a resident of Habba Kadal in the old city, said that he was stopped at four places by police and the CRPF. “I was allowed to go only after I showed hospital documents of my son to the forces.”
The restrictions at many places were eased after Friday prayers.
On Wednesday, J&K governor Satya Pal Malik had said that restrictions were relaxed in 81 out of 111 police stations in Kashmir. “There is no day time restriction in 166 police stations out of 197 in the state. Most of the places, landline telephones are now working. We will be restoring mobile networks as situation shows improvement,’’ he told reporters at Rajbhawan.
The governor also said that 3,000 primary schools and 1,000 middle schools have been opened. “At some places the attendance is good and at some places its low. The attendance will improve gradually. Public transport is functioning normally. In Jammu and Ladakh all the schools and colleges are open.’’
Though government offices are functioning, there is no public transport on the roads and people have kept their children away from schools.
Kashmir has been observing complete shutdown even after the government relaxed restrictions in several parts of the Valley.
