Barring parts of Srinagar, life returns to normal in Kashmir

Srinagar, Oct 19 :Barring parts of Srinagar, life returned to normal on Friday as shops and business establishments reopened and traffic was plying normally on all roads in Kashmir valley, after remaining crippled for a day, due to a strike called by the separatists.

Curfew-like restrictions remained imposed for the second successive day in the downtown, Shehar-e-Khas (SeK) and parts of civil lines in Srinagar as a precautionary measure, to prevent protests after Friday prayers.

Shops and business establishments were operating, while traffic on all routes was plying normally in restriction-free areas in this summer capital and other major towns and tehsil headquarters in the valley, where train service resumed, after remaining suspended for a day, due to security reasons.

All the shops were open in main business hubs of Civil Lines, including the historic Lal Chowk, Gonikhan, Residency Road, Maulana Azad Road, Mahraj Bazar, Batamaloo, Iqbal Park, Dalgate, Regal Chowk and Budshah Chowk.

The situation was no different in the uptown, where shops and business establishments reopened after day-long strike on Thursday.

However, hundreds of police and security force personnel, wearing bulletproof jackets and holding automatic weapons, were seen patrolling in the downtown, SeK and parts of civil lines in Srinagar, to strictly implement the restrictions.

All gates of historic Jamia Masjid, where no Friday prayers could be offered since last week, remained closed since Thursday. A large number of security forces and state police personnel remained deployed in the Jamia market and nearby areas, to prevent anybody from entering the worship place.

Reports of normalcy were also received from other parts of the Valley, including Baramulla, Sopore, Bandipora and Pattan in north Kashmir and Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian in south Kashmir.

Howver, security forces remained deployed in some sensitive areas, particularly in Baramulla, where two militants were killed in a brief exchange of fire with security forces on Friday afternoon, to prevent any law and order problem.

Business and other activities also resumed in the twin central Kashmir districts of Budgam and Ganderbal.

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq and Mohammad Yaseen Malik, have urged people to hold protest after Friday prayers against civilian killings, besides raids, arrests of youths. The separatists had on Thursday called for a general strike.