The situation in Kashmir showed signs of normalcy on Sunday as street vendors and transporters defied the separatist diktat for a shutdown and a market near the Sher-e-Kashmir Park opened after a gap of more than three months.
In contrast, over in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, tension escalated as people took to the streets in Kotli to express their anger against the alleged atrocities committed by the Pakistan army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The agitation was launched against extra-judicial killings, fake encounters and brutalities committed on pro-Azadi (pro-freedom) leaders.
The protests come amid comments by exiled Baloch leaders hitting out at Pakistan for atrocities by the military in Balochistan.
Earlier, PoK saw similar protests against rigged elections that saw Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), coming to power.
Over the past months, protests over several instances of extra-judicial killings, fake encounters and brutalities have increased in Pakistan.
Security agencies in Pakistan have also been condemned by international agencies for widespread violations of human rights, including random arrests, torture and extra-judicial killings.
Earlier in September, a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) titled ‘This Crooked System’ portrayed a scathing indictment of the police system in Pakistan and lack of any government plan to reform it.
It says that police in Pakistan routinely and unlawfully kill criminal suspects by means of fake “encounter killings.”
Normalcy Returns to Kashmir
More than 100 street vendors set up their stalls at the weekly flea market, also known as ‘Sunday market’, near the Sher-e-Kashmir Park, a police official said.
The weekly flea market has opened on Sunday after a gap of nearly three months, the official said.
There has been a significant increase in the movement of private and public transport, except buses, in uptown Srinagar, including commercial hub Lal Chowk.
He said security forces have been deployed across market places to instil a sense of security among the people so that they can carry out their day-to-day activities without fear.
(With ANI and PTI inputs.)