Post clashes, 5 educational institutions remain shut

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 12

Five schools and colleges remained shut today against the backdrop of clashes in the Valley.

The Srinagar Deputy Commissioner said the classwork at Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School remained suspended on Friday as a precautionary measure.

Students of Government College for Women, MA Road, and Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School had clashed with security personnel on Tuesday, triggering a shutdown in the commercial hub of Srinagar, Lal Chowk.

The Srinagar DC said that in the said institutions, the classwork would remain suspended tomorrow also.

In Budgam district, which witnessed clashes between students and security personnel on Thursday, classwork remained suspended at Government Degree College, Magam, and Government Higher Secondary School, Magam, today.

In north Kashmir’s Sopore, which has been witnessing clashes for the last four weeks, the government suspended the classwork at Government Degree College, Sopore, and Government Higher Secondary School, Sopore. On Thursday, students of Government Higher Secondary School, Sopore, pelted security personnel and their vehicles deployed outside the school gate with stones.

The student clashes erupted in the Valley following the alleged use of force by the police against students of Government Degree College, Pulwama, on April 15. The students were protesting setting up of a security checkpost outside the college.

Since the incident, the protests have been going on intermittently in the Valley.

Though there is no clear demand from the protesting students, the daily clashes have thrown up a challenge for security forces.

Minister for Education Syed Altaf Bukhari recently appealed to parents to counsel their children so that they do not to indulge in law and order problems and instead focus on their studies.