Several schools reopen in Srinagar, life inching towards normalcy in Kashmir

Several schools reopened here on Tuesday after remaining closed for over three months due to the unannounced shutdown following the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 provisions, even as life was inching towards normalcy in Kashmir, officials said.

The move by several private schools to resume classes came as public transport has started to ply in the Valley and life was fast returning to normalcy, they said.

The managements have decided to open the schools from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and students have been asked to come without wearing the uniform, the officials said.

The city and most areas elsewhere in the valley saw a significant improvement in the movement of public transport on Monday.

The officials said the intra-district as well as the inter-district connectivity has improved significantly.

Auto-rickshaws and inter-district cabs have been plying for a while now, but in the last few days, the movement of intra-district cabs across the valley has also increased, they added.

The officials said the private transport was plying unhindered.

On Sunday, the rail service from Srinagar to Banihal also resumed.

The train service in the valley was suspended due to security reasons on August 3 — days before the Centre abrogated the Jammu and Kashmir’s special status



under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state into two Union territories.

The Centre’s decision on August 5 led to an unannounced shutdown in the valley even as authorities imposed severe restrictions which were later gradually eased out.

While the shutdown continued in some areas, markets at most places have been following a new pattern of functioning — opening early morning till around the noon.

The shopkeepers down their shutters in the afternoon — at some places in the late afternoon — to join the protest against the abrogation of the special status of the state, the officials said, adding a few shops in the civil lines of the city remained open throughout the day on Monday.

Pre-paid mobile phones and all internet services in the Valley continue to remain suspended since August 5.

Most of the top level and second rung separatist leaders have been taken into preventive custody, while mainstream leaders including two former chief ministers — Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — have been either detained or placed under house arrest.

The government has detained former chief minister and sitting Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah under the controversial Public Safety Act, a law enacted by his father and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1978 when he was the chief minister.