Life after 6 PM – Srinagar comes to life as shutdown is relaxed in the evening
With Eid-ul-Adha around the corner, Srinagar comes to life at 6 pm as shutdown is relaxed and markets open amid the ongoing spell of unrest.
There is bustle in the city’s commercial capital, Lal Chowk, with cars and motorcycles rushing to find a place to stop along the pavements. The shops lift their shutters as the clock strikes 6 pm.
It is the first major sign of business activity in the past 60 days since the unrest began and coincides with the upcoming Eid-ul-Adha festival, scheduled for Tuesday next week.
The unrest sparked by the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani has so far paralysed all business and commercial activity in the region.
The separatists, who are steering the ongoing unrest by issuing weekly protest calendars, have called for a 12-hour daily relaxation in shutdown from 6 pm to 6 am for the next eight days, except Fridays.
The state government, which has previously imposed night curfew disallowing relaxation, has now lifted the restrictions, allowing the city to have a few hours of life and shopping. Even as traffic movement suddenly increases in Lal Chowk post 6 pm, the shopper rush is limited.
“Most of these people come to soothe their hearts,” said a salesman at an ice-cream parlour on Lal Chowk’s Residency Road. “It is good that there is evening relaxation as it will allow us to have some sales,” he said.
Vendors and autorickshaws have made a reappearance on the street during pre-dusk hours after a lengthy absence. Public transport continues to remain off the roads even as movement of private vehicles has increased during the daytime in the past few days.
On Exhibition Road, a young man has brought a herd of sheep for sale. Sheep is the most preferred for sacrifice on Eid-ul-Adha. “I have sold two sheep so far and two are still left,” he said, bargaining the price with a potential buyer.
Sheep sale points, which are ubiquitous during pre-Eid days across Kashmir, are missing this time as residents prepare for festivity in a tense and uncertain climate.
