No curfew, but peace is a distant dream in the Valley; 1 more dead

A 15-year-old boy was killed on Wednesday in clashes between security forces and violent protesters in Sopore area of north Kashmir Baramulla district, taking the death toll in the ongoing unrest in the Valley to 69.

Danish Manzoor and six other persons sustained injuries when security forces allegedly opened fire at stone-pelting protesters in Lodora in Sopore area, a police official said.

He said Danish succumbed to injuries while being shifted to a hospital in Sopore town.

With this death, the toll in the ongoing unrest in Kashmir has gone up to 69.

The fresh clashes occurred even as authorities lifted curfew from all areas of Kashmir on Wednesday after 53 days.

“There is no curfew anywhere in Kashmir today. It has been lifted even from the two police station areas in Srinagar -- M R Gunj and Nowhatta -- the only places in the Valley where the curbs were in place yesterday,”  a police official said earlier.

He said the improvement in situation across Kashmir prompted authorities to lift curfew.

Security forces have been deployed in strength in sensitive areas of the Valley to maintain law and order, the official said.

Greater movement of vehicular traffic and people was observed in major areas of the Valley, the official said.

In Srinagar city, where authorities lifted the curfew on Monday, private cars and auto-rickshaws were seen on roads in and around the commercial hub of Lal Chowk.

However, normal life remained disrupted in many other areas of the Valley.

Schools, colleges and other educational institutions and shops remained closed. The attendance in government offices and work in banks has witnessed improvement since Monday, the official said.

Curfew was clamped in the entire Valley on July 9 following violence in the aftermath of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district a day earlier.

The separatist camp, which is spearheading the agitation in the Valley, has extended their strike call till September 1. 

Meanwhile, mobile internet continued to remain suspended in the entire Valley, where the outgoing facility on prepaid mobiles remained barred.

Photograph: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com