“If normality has returned to that extent that schools can be reopened, then why don’t authorities lift the
ban on phone connectivity and public movement?” said Showkat Nabi, whose son is in nursery at Tyndale
Biscoe School, a Christian missionary institution in Srinagar. “The kids are too young to understand what
has happened... If we send them to schools, they will go – but we fear for their safety,” he continued.
At Burn Hall School, one of the oldest Christian missionary educational institutions in Srinagar, gates have
been locked for the past two weeks. The security personnel guarding the school told The Independent no
student attended yesterday’s classes and few teachers had turned up. “Who would risk sending a 5-year-old
kid to school in the present situation in Kashmir?” said the guard, who asked to be identified as Sagar.
Mohammad Younis Malik, director of school education in Kashmir, said 166 of Srinagar’s 196 primary
schools were open, but admitted that 72 of them had “thin” attendance.
Tariq Aziz, whose son studies at a private school in Srinagar, argued that not sending children to school was
a form of protest by the parents. “I want my son to know that India is trying to grab our land. Our future is
at risk in Kashmir now. I want to make him conscious that he has to fight for it in future,” Mr Aziz said.
“Education is less important than the lives and safety of our children. We have seen the closure of schools
for months in the past and if it continues our teachers will volunteer to open community schools.”
Government employees were also ordered to attend their offices yesterday, but it was unclear how many
exactly followed the order. Sehrish Asghar, an official spokesperson of the government, described the
numbers of those heading back to work as “encouraging”.
“It is difficult to reach the office amid strict restrictions on public movement, but we have to take a risk to
save our jobs,” engineer Aftab Ahmad told The Independent.
Across Kashmir, most shops and businesses remained closed, and the streets remained largely deserted. But
in a several locations, small-scale protests were seen as people clashed with the heavy contingents of armed
forces deployed across towns and villages of the disputed region. Deputy Inspector General VK Birdi, who
briefed media about the situation in Kashmir, said there was no major law-and-order incident reported in
the region.
“Some minor incidents of stone pelting were reported at some localities and were dealt with as per norm.
The culprits were dispersed,” Mr Birdi said. He said authorities are closely monitoring the situation, which
is “slowly returning to normality”.