By Rahi Firdous,AIP,
Srinagar: Srinagar and the rest of the Kashmir valley woke up to a peaceful morning and a semblance of normalcy seemed to have returned to the streets of the city after a night that passed off without any major incident despite curfew being relaxed for the first time in three days.
However, curfew has been re-imposed in Maisuma area of Srinagar and three other districts Anantnag, Pulwama, and Kakpora after clashes between protesters and security forces.
A top police officer told Agence India Press that, curfew has been re-imposed in Maisuma, Anantnag, Pulwama and Kakpora after fresh clashes erupts with police and protesters.
Earlier on Saturday morning, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah met Home Minister P Chidambaram to discuss the Kashmir situation.
Curfew was to be back in place at 5 o’clock this morning but after the night of calm, the curfew relaxation continues in other areas except Anantnag, Pulwama, and Kakpora districts.
Curfew was relaxed to enable people to offer special prayers overnight at Srinagar’s Hazratbal shrine for Sabh-e-Mehraz, one of the holiest nights in the Islamic calendar.
The moment curfew was relaxed on Friday night at 8 o’clock, people started coming to the shrine and offered prayers but people in far flung areas of the Valley could not make it because of the timing of the announcement and lack of public transport.
For the Omar Abdullah government, it was a high risk decision that seems to have paid off. It was the first test to see if control has been regained over the tense situation in Srinagar especially since the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani actually gave a Hazratbal chalo call earlier asking his supporters to march towards the Hazratbal shrine.
But eventually, it was a night that passed off peacefully except for some stray incidents of stone throwing in Nowhatta in downtown Srinagar and Pulwama district.
The Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has convened an all-party meeting in Srinagar on Monday to discuss the current crisis but the PDP, the main opposition party, plans to boycott it saying, the government has lost its credibility.
Meanwhile, the National Conference has responded by saying, Mehbooba didn’t ask for a session of the Assembly to be called for the law & order problems, she asked for it to be called to revoke Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) and to remove the Army.