As Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi arrived here on Thursday to assess the situation, Pakistan violated ceasefire, leaving a woman dead near the Line of Control (LoC) and students protested again in parts of the Kashmir Valley.
Mr. Mehrishi met Governor N.N. Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. Sources said the meetings focussed on the “fragile” situation. An official spokesman said Mr. Vohra and Mr. Mehrishi held “extensive discussions” on law and order. “They also discussed the security situation along the International Border (IB) and the LoC, more infiltration attempts and terrorism in the Valley,” he said.
The meetings assume significance as unrest, growing militancy and the student agitation swept across Kashmir.
A woman was killed and another civilian was injured near the LoC as Pakistani forces opened fire in Rajouri district in the Pir Panchal Valley on Wednesday. A police officer said the woman was identified as Akhtar Bibi. All schools close to the LoC in Rajouri district were closed on Thursday.
Several schools were designated as makeshift camps for villagers to take shelter, an official said.
Clashes continue
Despite Mr. Vohra’s and Education Minister Altaf Bukhari’s appeals to students to return to classes, students on Thursday clashed at five colleges and schools in the Valley. Security forces used tear-gas shells to break them up.
In Dooru, students staged a protest against the Army, which they said had assaulted several students after an incident of stone-throwing.
Classes at S.P. Higher Secondary School and Women’s College, M.A. Road, remained suspended. The Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, said they would be suspended on May 12, too, as a precautionary measure. The Deputy Commissioner, Budgam, also ordered suspension of classes in Government Degree College and Government Higher Secondary School, Magam, on May 12. The students started a protest on April 15 after the security forces entered the premises of Government Degree College, Pulwama. Over 50 students were injured in a clash there.
