Peace prevails in Kashmir Valley

Life returned to normalcy in Kashmir Valley on Tuesday after nine of days of continuous curfew and violence.

Shops in capital city Srinagar and other towns re-opened after days of violence, coinciding with the start of the Holy fasting month of Ramadan.

For most part of the day, locals were seen thronging the markets to buy essential items, whose availability in the curfew period was severely hit, adding to the curfew woes of the people.

Traffic also returned to the streets, lending hustle and bustle to the city roads, which were otherwise deserted for days.

State government offices, banks, educational institutions and business establishments also re-opened on Tuesday morning, as authorities withdrew the curfew restrictions.

However, normal activity started petering out early in response to the call given by the co-ordination committee, which had asked shopkeepers to down their shutters at 1600 hours IST.

The markets started closing this evening and traffic thinned out on the streets, and it was almost standstill by 1800 hours IST.

A meeting of the co-ordination committee, which comprises representatives from both groups of the separatist, All Parties Hurriyat Conference is being held on Wednesday, which will be chaired by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq to chalk out future programmes.

Mirwaiz, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and JKLF chairman Yasin Malik were released by the state government on Monday.