The Centre has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to impose restrictions on the movement of people on Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid) on September 13 after the separatists called a protest march to the United Nations office in Srinagar that day. A senior government official in Delhi said prohibitory orders already exist in the Valley but were not being implemented effectively.
The official said the Centre had suggested the strict imposition of Section 144 of the Cr.PC (which disallows assembly of more than four persons in public places) to thwart any kind of violence and untoward incident.
As per the Home Ministry’s data, 1,732 incidents have been reported in the valley from July 8-September 6. Of these, more than half the 50 incidents were reported in the first three days following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani on July 8 and subsequent Fridays.
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While 7,550 civilians and 5,560 security forces were injured in the ongoing violence, as many as 62 people, including two security forces were killed.
“This is not the first time that Section 144 has been imposed on any festival in the Kashmir valley. It is necessary as the Hurriyat (separatists) have given call for a protest march and we don’t want people to come out on roads and violence to escalate,” said the official.
The Hurriyat has asked people to join the protest march to the UNMOGIP office to submit a memorandum as the 71st session of the UN General Assembly is starting the same day at New York, U.S.A.
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The official said as per contingency measures, more central armed police force personnel were being rushed to the Valley.
“Even though its Eid, people can celebrate it inside their houses. We have left it to the State to decide whether they want to relax the prohibitory orders for a couple of hours to allow people to go to the mosque and pray,” said the official.