Normal life continued to remain crippled in Kashmir for the 87th consecutive day today due to the separatist sponsored strike.
A police official said security forces have been deployed at some places, including marketplaces, to instill a sense of security among the people so that they can carry out their day-to-day activities without fear.
The official said the situation in Kashmir was improving with each day and there has been a significant increase in the movement of private and public transport, except buses, in uptown areas of the summer capital Srinagar, including in the commercial hub of Lal Chowk.
Many street vendors, hand cart vendors are selling goods like fruits, vegetables, fresh juice, tea and snacks at many places in the city.
However, life in downtown city and other parts of the Valley, including district headquarters and towns, remained affected for the 87th straight day due to the shutdown call of the separatists, who have been spearheading the ongoing unrest in the Valley seeking resolution of Kashmir issue.
At least 40 Kashmiri students have left for home a day after clashes broke out between two student groups at a private college in Ludhiana area of Punjab.
The rest of the students were feeling insecure about their safety despite assurances from the college administration and police.
“Though the management has assured us safety but we are feeling insecure as the students from other states keep staring and hurling choicest abuses at us,” said a student at Gulzar Group of Institutions in Ludhiana Khanna.
The students have appealed to the Jammu and Kashmir government to give them security or make arrangements so that they too would leave for their homes.
“We are really distressed here as the situation is getting worse,” they said.
Denying the reports of pro-Pakistan or anti-India slogans, the students said that the fact was they were bullied by non-Kashmiri students after the Uri attack that left 19 soldiers dead.
On October 2, reports said that groups of students from Bihar, Jharkhand and Kashmir clashed at the institute, leaving at least four of them injured.
According to the reports, the clash took place in the mess when breakfast was being served.
According to the Kashmiri students, the police was deployed in the college, only to be withdrawn in the evening. “… we are feeling insecure and panicky because they (non-Kashmiris) can attack anytime.”
Khanna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Satinder Singh and deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Jagwinder Singh Cheema, according to the Hindustan Times, said: “A student tried to jump the queue in the mess during breakfast and they had an argument. There was minor clash. Injured students are okay now and no pro-Pak slogans were raised.”
