This curfew was harshest than ‘Gul’e curfew’ days, say people

Kashmir on Monday saw end of longest-ever continuous curfew, bringing the much-needed respite to people from the siege that lasted for 51 consecutive days.
Kashmir has been reeling under ‘harshest ever’ curfew since July 8—the day Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with forces in Kokernag area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Interestingly, night curfew was also imposed in Srinagar district on August 17, apparently after a gap of 27 years.
A police spokesman here said following “improvement in situation”, curfew was lifted from all parts of Kashmir on Monday morning, except Pulwama town and areas falling under jurisdiction of Police Station M R Gunj and Police Station Nowhatta in Srinagar. With the lifting of curfew, a number of private cars could be seen plying on roads across the summer capital Srinagar. However, a complete shutdown was observed on the call of joint-resistance leadership.
There were no barricades anywhere on roads in Srinagar, including the city center Lal Chowk, witnesses said.
However, for Kashmir’s vast majority, the 51 days of continued curfew was “harshest ever” in the past three decades.
“I have been recording events in Kashmir since my childhood and they suggest that Kashmir has witnessed 175 days of curfew from January 1 to May 21 in 1990. But this wasn’t continuous as we would witness breaks in between, popularly known as ‘deal’,” said Patron of Islamic Students League, Shakeel Ahmed Bakhshi. “The present curfew that lasted for 51 days without a break or deal, is the longest curfew period after 1990. Earlier in 1984, we would witness frequent curfews imposed by then head of J&K, Ghulam Muhammad Shah.”
Bakshi said due to imposition of frequent curfews in 1984, Shah was nicknamed as ‘Gul-e-curfew’.
He, however, said the present curfew was harshest ever. “But the imposition of curfew has never helped in crushing the people’s voice. I would say only hands of imposing curfew have changed, the rest remains the same,” Bakshi told Kashmir Post.
Echoing the same views, senior Hurriyat Conference (M) leader and JKLF (H) chairman Javaid Ahmed Mir said he hasn’t seen a continuous curfew for 51 days since 1990. “Though curfew in Kashmir is nothing new, in early ‘90s it would be a permanent feature, but relaxation or deal would be a part of the government’s policy,” he said.
Old Srinagar residents said they witnessed a very stringent curfew since July 8.
“We haven’t seen such curbs in the past. We were not even allowed to buy milk this time. At many places, people were not allowed to open windows of their houses,” said Shakeel Ahmed, a resident of Saraf Kadal area of old Srinagar.
Elderly Ghulam Muhammad Rather, who runs a shop at Nowhatta, said: “I have seen curfew in times of Ghulam Muhammad Shah, Jagmohan and also in 2008, 2009, and 2010. But this time the behavior of forces was completely opposite to what it would be earlier. There was no word about any deal. Curfew remained in place strictly during days and also during nights.”
A senior police official said they had passed strict directions to their men to implement the curfew strictly. “Our basic aim was to prevent gatherings of people to avoid civilian causalities. Old Srinagar is a sensitive area for us, so we decided not to lift the curfew from there. However, a few human lives were still lost which is unfortunate,” he said.
Cops deployed in old Srinagar said they were following the directions from the top. “We would put concertina wire on main roads early in the morning and stand guard throughout the day. It was really hectic and we feel really tired at times,” said a group of policemen deployed in Khanyar area of old Srinagar for the past 25 days.
Same was the case in towns that include Pulwama, Shopian, Baramulla, and Kupwara, where harsh curfew remained in place for 51 days straight days.