Nearly 200 people have been injured in clashes between the protesters and the police and paramilitaries.
Shops, offices, business establishments and banks opened Saturday after five days as authorities lifted curfew imposed in most parts of Kashmir.
Public transport also started plying normally on all routes of the valley.
Curfew was imposed in parts of Kashmir, and almost the entire valley on Friday, to prevent violent protests.
The authorities had yesterday announced that there will be no curfew today.
Disrupted
Normal life has been disrupted in the valley for nearly a month since the hanging of Afzal Guru in Delhi’s Tihar jail. The valley was placed under a curfew for seven consecutive days after Guru’s hanging on Feb 9.
The situation had started limping back to normal when the mysterious death of a Kashmiri student in Hyderabad caused a fresh wave of unrest.
Many in Kashmir believe that Mudasir Kamran, a PhD scholar was killed by “Hindu fanatics” or the police
after his participation in protest demonstrations over Guru’s execution. The Hyderabad police say he committed suicide.
The shutdown on Monday and Tuesday was called by Majlis Mashawarat or a joint advisory council of separatist groups.
The latest to come was the killing of a 27-year-old youth, Tahir Ahmed Sofi by the Army in Baramulla on Tuesday, and the shutdown has been spontaneous since then.
The killing has caused deep shock and anger in the valley. Even pro-India political groups including the governing National Conference have decried Sofi’s killing as “unprovoked”.
The chief minister Omar Abdullah broke down in the assembly saying he had no explanation for the killing.
He lamented that those responsible for it could not be brought to justice due to impunity under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
India’s ruling party, the Congress has once again turned down the demand for withdrawal of AFSPA from the state.
The council, actually formed to chalk out a strategy of protests to demand the return of mortal remains of Mohammad Afzal Guru have said they will be issuing a new protest programme on Sunday.
The authorities in Kashmir justified the imposition of curfew saying that this was done “to save lives”.
(Free Press Kashmir)
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