Srinagar: A day before Eid, on Sunday, prohibitory orders’ banning large gatherings was re-imposed in Srinagar. Earlier on Saturday, restrictions were relaxed in the city but clashes with the police took place. The ban was imposed again to safeguard the prevailing situation.
The police made the same known via public announcements, asking people to return to their homes.
There has not been any official confirmation on the re-imposition of the restrictions but sources tell us that the police were making public announcements.
On Monday, people in Jammu and Kashmir marked Eid al-Adha or Bakrid amid massive security scale-up. As large gatherings were not allowed, people went to the mosques in small groups. Traffic restrictions were also in place.
Senior police officials like divisional commissioner Baseer Khan, inspector general of police Swayam Prakash Pani and Srinagar’s district magistrate Shahid Choudhary held a meeting with local clerics on Sunday to oversee prayer arrangements and ensure peaceful celebrations.
Choudhary had also tweeted on Sunday that he visited some of the mosques and grounds where prayers are being offered.
#Srinagar : People offered Eid namaz in the morning at Mohalla mosques on #EidAlAdha, today. Large groups of people are not allowed to assemble, traffic restrictions in place. #JammuAndKasmir pic.twitter.com/HVDnNUT9AD
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) August 12, 2019
The bureaucrat also said that more than 250 ATMs had been made functional in Srinagar and bank branches were also open.
“The situation in the state has remained normal so far. No untoward incident has been reported from anywhere so far,” said a tweet by the official handle of the J-K police on Sunday.
In Jammu, restrictions under section 144 was completely lifted in five districts. In the other five districts, restrictions were relaxed for Eid.
On Saturday, the Home Ministry spokesperson said there had been a few ‘stray protests’ in Srinagar and Baramulla, none of which involved a crowd more than 20 people. The Ministry also dismissed media reports about a protest by some 10,000 people in Kashmir valley as “fabricated and incorrect”.
Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs: #Eid prayers offered peacefully in all local mosques of Anantnag, Baramulla, Budgam, Bandipore, without any untoward incident. Jamia masjid old town Baramulla witnessed approx 10,000 people offering prayers. #JammuAndKashmir
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) August 12, 2019
The commotion is due to the August 5th scrapping of Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The state is now bifurcated into two separate union territories – one is J&K and the other is Ladakh. All communication links were disrupted since the Centre’s decision on Article 370.
On Sunday, some markets, banks and ATMs remained open to facilitate the availability of essentials and for people to offer prayers at mosques on Monday.