The Eid celebrations passed off peacefully in all parts of Jammu & Kashmir on Monday. The prayers, which began at 7 in the morning at most mosques, continued till noon in some places, a senior officer in the security set up said .
According to the reports sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs here, a large number of people gathered for Eid prayer in various mosques in places like Bandipora, Baramulla, Kupwara, Trehgam, Sopore, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Awantipora, Anantnag Ganderbal, Budgam and several mosques at Srinagar.
In Jammu alone, a gathering of over 5000 people offered prayers at Eidgah and also a large gatherings were seen in other parts of Jammu province. Movement of people was facilitated by police forces as necessary.
In Srinagar, keeping in view the possibility of terrorists, militants and mischievous elements trying to disturb public order and peace, reasonable restrictions were imposed on large gatherings in sensitive areas. People gathered in large numbers at local mosques to offer prayers and greet each other. There have been some minor localised protests of a routine nature in a few places.
“This is not unknown in Jammu and Kashmir in the past. There have been some isolated incidents of stone pelting, again at an insignificant level. Police handled these locally and dispersed the protesters. There are no major injuries barring one or two individuals”,the Home Ministry officials said.
Restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir last week were eased from Saturday on wards in a calibrated manner, balancing the requirements of facilitating the public and preventing mischievous elements from creating trouble.
People came out in large numbers and thronged the streets of Srinagar on Saturday, about 20 percent of the shops opened and hawkers and street vendors sold consumables.
On Sunday, there was further relaxation resulting in a large volume of traffic and traffic jams in some areas. Over 50 percent of the shops were open and Eid shopping was done unhindered. There was massive sale of goats and sheep in Srinagar and other parts of the valley.
In other parts of the state, restrictions were completely lifted in five districts of Jammu. Similar local relaxation was done in the nine other districts of Kashmir based on local assessment of the situation.
Removal and tightening of restrictions is a local exercise by the police and district administration based on their assessment of the need to maintain public order and peace. As and when situation demands, the easing is happening across the state.
“Restrictions on mobile network connectivity continue as a result of security requirements. However, people are being facilitated to contact their relatives and children outside the state through widespread deployment of help lines at convenient locations such as the District Commissioner’s office, Police stations and Police posts”, the Jammu and Kashmir administration said in the report.
“Thousands of calls are being made every day from these places. Over 5000 calls were made in one day in Srinagar. Over 300 public points for phone connectivity are functional across the Kashmir division. Media is being facilitated through a media center set up by the state government. “Regular briefings are being held in the Media Center every day at 11 AM and 6 PM by a senior government official. Media has been provided phone and internet facility at the Media Center”, the reports further read.
(UNI)
