In this Aug. 15, 2019 photo paramilitary soldiers keep vigil from an armoured vehicle during security lockdown in Srinagar.
Fresh restrictions were imposed in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley as a preventive measure in view of Friday congregational prayers which passed off peacefully, officials said.
Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPc were announced on public address system. People have been asked not to venture outside and barricades have been placed.
While Friday congregational prayers were offered in mosques located in the interiors of the city and elsewhere in the valley, no prayers were allowed in major mosques and shrines of the valley for the third consecutive week.
The prayers have passed off peacefully with no major untoward incident reported so far from any part of the valley, a police official said.
Normal life remained disrupted across the Kashmir Valley for the 26th consecutive day, with markets closed and public transport off the roads.
While landline telephony services have resumed in many parts of the valley, mobile telephone services and all Internet services continue to remain suspended since 5 August after the Centre’s move to abrogate Article 370, that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcate the state into two union territories.
Most of the top level and second rung separatist politicians have been taken into preventive custody while mainstream leaders including three former chief ministers -- Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- have either been detained or placed under house arrest.
August 5, 2019: A police officer briefs his men on a deserted street.
The Centre revoked Kashmir's special status with a presidential order on August 5, as thousands of newly deployed troops arrived and internet and phone services were cut in the region from midnight on August 4.
August 5, 2019: Barricades are set up and vehicular movement is diverted by the police.
August 6, 2019: Kashmiri boys sit in front of closed shops in Srinagar.
August 7, 2019: Migrant labourers wait outside Jammu Railway Station to leave the region due to the heightened security situation.
August 7, 2019: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval interacts with locals while reviewing security situation in Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir. He stayed in the Valley for nearly 10 days after the State was bifurcated.
August 7, 2019: Non-local children sleep on the pavement, next to their parents' luggage, outside Tourist Reception Center during the third day of restrictions in Srinagar.
August 8, 2019: Customers in an electronics shop in Jammu watch as Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on TV. Describing the changes in Kashmir as historic, the PM assured Kashmiri people that the situation in the region will soon become normal. However, several Kashmiris couldn't watch the speech since television broadcast was restricted.
August 9, 2019: Trucks stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway during restrictions, imposed in several districts as a precautionary measure.
August 9, 2019: Rapid Action Force personnel patrol a street during restrictions in Jammu. The Army had warned mosques in Kulgam against political sermons during Friday prayers. A policeman, Nasir Ahmed, was beaten up by a mob in Hawal.
August 9, 2019: Protestors marching on a street after Friday prayers in Srinagar. An official said stone-throwing started at Soura, Nowshera, Rambagh, Barzalla and Rainawari after the prayers.
August 10, 2019: BJP State president Ravinder Raina along with Gujjar-Bakkarwala community celebrate Jashn-e-Azadi, Independence Day, with the Indian tricolour in Jammu. With the abrogation of Article 370, usage of the Kashmiri flag is no more mandated in the region.
August 10, 2019: Students attend morning assembly as schools in Jammu reopened after being closed for five days.
Schools in Kashmir Valley were opened on August 19 to a paltry attendance.
August 11, 2019: Kashmiri women shout slogans during a protest. At the end of a procession from Soura to Ali Jan Road, about 4,000 people clashed with security men for hours. Several mosques in Pulwama passed resolutions against the dilution of Article 370.
Restrictions continued in much of the region, despite the government saying it was gradually restoring phone lines and easing a security lockdown that's been in place for nearly two weeks.
August 12, 2019: Muslims offer Eid al-Adha prayers at Eidgah, in Jammu.
“#Eid #prayers concluded #peacefully in various parts of the #valley. No untoward incident reported so far,” the Jammu and Kashmir Police said in a tweet.
August 13, 2019: Jameela, mother of Irfan Ahmad Burra who was allegedly arrested during a clampdown, is consoled by a relative in her house in Pulwama.
August 13, 2019: Children play with toy guns next to security force personnel in Srinagar.
August 14, 2019: Munefa Nazir, 6, undergoes treatment in a hospital in Srinagar. According to her uncle, she was hit in the eye by a marble fired from a catapult by a soldier at a checkpoint as they rode on his scooter on August 12 evening.
August 15, 2019: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik salutes during Independence Day celebrations in Srinagar. None of the leaders from regional parties, including former Chief Ministers, could take part in the celebrations as they were in preventive custody.
August 15, 2019: School girls take part in Independence Day celebrations in Srinagar.
August 15, 2019: BJP Lok Sabha MP from Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal plays an instrument during the Independence Day celebrations in Leh. Mr. Namgyal has hailed the government’s decision to grant Union Territory status to his constituency, saying it will usher in development and strengthen border security.
August 16, 2019: Additional Director General Munir Khan said there were localised incidents during protests in various parts of Srinagar and other districts in the Valley, which were contained and dealt with locally.
August 17, 2019: A Kashmiri family talks to relatives on a landline phone in Srinagar. Telephone lines were restored from August 17 in the Kashmir Valley, after an almost two-week communications blackout.
August 18, 2019: Youngsters play cricket on the roads of Srinagar city.
August 18, 2019: Stones thrown by Kashmiri protesters at security forces lie on the road in Habba Kadal after a protest in Srinagar.
August 18, 2019: People buy vegetables on the banks of Dal Lake during relaxation in Srinagar.
August 18, 2019: Journalists work inside a media center set up by J&K authorities in Srinagar.
The Supreme Court, on August 16, prescribed patience over positive judicial action while hearing Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of Kashmir Times, who is challenging the state of curfew and media restrictions imposed by the Centre across the Valley.
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