Valley in a fix as daytime shutdown continues

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 8

As the daytime shutdown in Kashmir continues for a third month since the August 5 abrogation of Article 370, residents in the region are in a fix about the new status quo.

The daytime shutdown in the region has continued despite the complete removal of travel restrictions which were imposed in the aftermath of the revocation of Article 370. The restrictions on communication, which includes shutdown of mobile phones and internet services, however, continue in the region.

Markets across the Kashmir valley have remained shut during the day while public transport services, including inter-district bus services, have remained paralysed since the August 5 abrogation.

The shopping time during the past two months has remained restricted to early mornings or evenings in Kashmir while markets remain closed during the daytime.

Rashid Ahmad, a store owner at a market in Srinagar’s commercial hub Lal Chowk, said the situation was likely to remain the same as “no one has the mandate” to call for the end to shutdowns. “No one called for this shutdown and no one has the mandate to call it off. So we are now left to wait and see if things change in a slow manner,” he said. Ahmad said the shopkeepers and store owners of several markets in Lal Chowk had held a meeting recently which ended inconclusively. “The meeting was called to increase the shopping time by an hour as the winter is coming, but no one was willing to take a decision,” he said.

In conversations with dozen of shopkeepers and vendors in Srinagar, the residents said they were unsure when things will return to normal. “As of now, everyone is comfortable with the new work schedule. Some people work in the morning hours and some work discreetly during the day,” Ghulam Mohammad, a fruit vendor, said.