Maria Latif
Ganderbal, Qazigund, Tral Remain Shut
SRINAGAR: Life has returned to normal in most parts of Kashmir, after four days of protests, shutdown and curfew over the desecration of Quran and killing of Muslim protestors by paramilitaries.
Shops opened, traffic plied and educational institutions and government offices resumed work.
On Thursday last, Border Security Forces fired at a thousands-strong crowd protesting sacrilege of the Quran and assault on a local cleric by the soldiers in Ramban district, 140 km from here.
Authorities say four protestors were killed and have launched a probe into the incident.
The killings caused widespread outrage in the Kashmir valley and other areas of the Muslim-majority state. Violent anti-India demonstrations left scores of people, including policemen and paramilitary personnel, wounded.
Many young men were also arrested by the police.
Octogenarian separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who had called for a shutdown till Sunday, appealed to the people to resume normal activities. He has, however, called for peaceful protests after noon prayers.
He has also requested clerics of various mosques to offer “Fateha” or congregational prayers for those killed.
However, in Qazigund in south Kashmir and Ganderbal in the north shops were closed today and people observed a shutdown against the arrest of youth by the police on charges of stone pelting.
Reports from Tral town in south Kashmir said in the morning a group of youth pelted vehicles with stones forcing the markets to shut. However, a journalist in the area said that a few shops opened later in the afternoon.
Kashmir has witnessed an armed uprising against Indian rule for more than two decades. The violence, which killed tens of thousands of people, has declined significantly, but anti-India public protests happen off and on.
