Long Kashmir shutdown gets a break
Zulfikar Majid Srinagar, Nov 19, 2016, DHNS:
Separatists have announced a two-day break from a shutdown they have enforced for 133 days. People can go about their lives normally on Saturday and Sunday, they said.
The agitators have been issuing weekly protest schedules since July 9, a day after Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces in an encounter.
Since September, they had been easing restrictions in the evening hours, four days a week. In the cycle of violence since July 9, more than 87 civilians have died, and thousands injured.
Thousands of security forces personnel have also been injured in stone-pelting incidents. The weekend reprieve doesn’t mean much. In the past week, transporters, office-goers and shopkeepers have defied the strike call. “The board exams were held successfully and that has forced separatists to announce a relaxation,” said Muzaffar Ahmad, a businessman in uptown Srinagar.
He questioned why the agitators, who claim to care for Kashmiris, announced no relaxation for Bakrid in September. Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, who have been spearheading the agitation, had urged people to march towards idgahs and then towards the UN office in Srinagar on the day of the festival.
It was for the first time in Kashmir that a strike remained in force on Bakrid. During the 2010 unrest, the separatists had announced a relaxation ahead of the festival.
“When separatists realise strikes have lost relevance, they announce a relaxation. People have already returned to their normal activities,” Ahmad said.
Public transport has already resumed in Srinagar and between the districts.
Suspended for 133 days, post-paid mobile Internet will be restored from the midnight of Friday, according to Inspector General of Police Javaid Mujtaba Gilani.
The service was snapped in Kashmir on July 8, following the killing of Burhan Wani.
The agitators have been issuing weekly protest schedules since July 9, a day after Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces in an encounter.
Since September, they had been easing restrictions in the evening hours, four days a week. In the cycle of violence since July 9, more than 87 civilians have died, and thousands injured.
Thousands of security forces personnel have also been injured in stone-pelting incidents. The weekend reprieve doesn’t mean much. In the past week, transporters, office-goers and shopkeepers have defied the strike call. “The board exams were held successfully and that has forced separatists to announce a relaxation,” said Muzaffar Ahmad, a businessman in uptown Srinagar.
He questioned why the agitators, who claim to care for Kashmiris, announced no relaxation for Bakrid in September. Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, who have been spearheading the agitation, had urged people to march towards idgahs and then towards the UN office in Srinagar on the day of the festival.
It was for the first time in Kashmir that a strike remained in force on Bakrid. During the 2010 unrest, the separatists had announced a relaxation ahead of the festival.
“When separatists realise strikes have lost relevance, they announce a relaxation. People have already returned to their normal activities,” Ahmad said.
Public transport has already resumed in Srinagar and between the districts.
Suspended for 133 days, post-paid mobile Internet will be restored from the midnight of Friday, according to Inspector General of Police Javaid Mujtaba Gilani.
The service was snapped in Kashmir on July 8, following the killing of Burhan Wani.
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