Curfew-like curbs back in Valley’s trouble-free zone

SRINAGAR: Curfew-like restrictions were reimposed on Friday in parts of the Valley where the lockdown had been eased last week, the return of barricades and concertina wires to places like Srinagar’s nerve centre Lal Chowk reflecting J&K’s new normal of living each day not knowing what will change.
There was no official statement on why the restrictions were back, but sources attributed it to the administration being wary about large crowds gathering in mosques for Friday prayers.
Shops and other business establishments have anyway remained shut for more than two weeks, except occasionally for a couple of hours in the evening. Since Thursday, even that hasn't been possible.
"Three police jeeps came to our local market on Thursday evening and asked each of us to pull down the shutters. People who had stepped out to purchase essential commodities and medicines were asked to disperse," said Ghulam Nabi Hajam, a resident of Srinagar's Jahawar Nagar neighbourhood.
Several traders whom TOI spoke to said they were caught between "separatist youths" who prevent them from doing business at daytime and security personnel who ask them to close their shops if they open for a bit in the evening.
“None of us has any idea what to do or where we are headed. There is a semblance of normalcy one day, only to face renewed restrictions the next day. Today, CRPF men and cops were stopping even law-abiding pedestrians,” Nabi said.
Restrictions have been in place in the trouble-prone areas of the old town for three weeks, with incidents of stone-pelting being reported in several of these localities. Last week, posters had appeared overnight calling for a shutdown. In some places, private vehicles were attacked and pedestrians intimidated by groups of youths for defying the protest call against nullification of Article 370.
Police said Friday prayers were held uninterrupted in the local mosques, although the larger shrines like Jamia Masjid remained out of bounds.
While south Kashmir’s Pulwama, Kulgam, Anantnag and Shopian areas have been relatively calm over the past two weeks, markets have remained shut "out of fear of the unknown", Gulzar Ahmad Mir of Shopian said.
"I guess you haven't heard of any stone-pelting incident from south Kashmir because scores of potential troublemakers are being detained by security forces," Mir added.