No major incident of law and order violation in Kashmir, life returning to normal: Officials

There has been no major incident of law and order violation in Kashmir Valley and life is slowly returning to normal, top Jammu and Kashmir administration officials said on Monday.

Syed Sehrish Asgar, Director of Information and Public Relations of Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters here that in the Jammu region, no law and order violation has been reported.

Schools reopened in Kashmir and teachers reported to work as restrictions were eased further, but not many students turned up.

"Some rumours were spread yesterday by certain elements. The government urges people not to believe in any kind of rumour-mongering by vested interests," she said.

"There has been no major law and order situation reported from across the valley. Life is slowly returning to normal. Public in general has been cooperative," Asgar said.

Deputy Inspector General (central Kashmir) V K Birdi said no incidents of law and order violation were reported on Monday and all the areas where there have been relaxations, or relaxations were extended, have been peaceful.

"There was some minor incidents of stone-pelting in certain pockets but those were dealt as per law and the miscreants were dispersed," he said.

The situation is being monitored very closely and the situation is returning slowly to the normal. In general, there has been no major law and order incident, he said.

Earlier, teachers reported to work in many schools in Kashmir as restrictions were eased further, but not many students were seen.

The officials said the government has made necessary arrangements for opening of 190 primary schools in Srinagar city as security forces remained deployed in most of the valley.

But all private schools in the city remained shut for the 15th consecutive day as parents were apprehensive about the security situation in view of violent protests over the past two days. Only Police Public School at Bemina and a few Kendriya Vidyalayas saw a handful of students turning up.

"There is so much uncertainty in the situation that sending kids to school at this stage is out of question," Farooq Ahmad Dar, a parent, said.

The officials in Baramulla district said schools in five towns remained closed. In the rest of the district, schools were opened, they said.

"There is no relaxation in restrictions in Pattan, Palhalan, Singhpora, Baramulla and Sopore towns. Primary schools in the rest of the district are open. We are collecting details about the number of students who have reported at their respective schools," an official said.

A senior Srinagar district official said a few schools on the periphery were opened but in the old city and in Civil Lines areas, they remained shut due to violence over the past two days.

The authorities had planned to open schools up to primary level and make all government offices functional from Monday.

In Srinagar city, barricades were removed from areas where the situation has remained peaceful since the Centre announced the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided the state into two union territories on August 5.

Markets in the Valley were shut while public transport remained off roads. The movement of private vehicles in the city increased after restrictions were eased.