Life returns to normal after day-long strike in Kashmir

Srinagar, Oct 28: Life returned to normal on Saturday after day-long strike on Friday called by separatists to mark 70 years of accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Centre. Shops and business establishments were open and traffic was plying on all routes normally in the summer capital, Srinagar, where some busy routes witnessed traffic jam in civil lines and uptown. Work in the government offices and banks was also normal. Meanwhile, all educational institutes reopened in Kashmir valley, where train service also resumed this morning after remaining suspended on Friday for security reasons. Business and other activities resumed in the main business hubs in civil lines, including historic Lal Chowk, Hari Singh High Street, Gonikhan, Residency Road, Maulana Azad Road, Mahraj Bazar, Batmaloo, Iqbal Park, Dalgate, Regal Chowk and Budshah Chowk. The situation was no different in the uptown and downtown, where shops and business establishments reopened after day-long strike on Friday. Both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) had called for strike on Friday as on this day in 1947 Indian troops landed in Kashmir valley after signing of instrument of accession between Maharaja Hari Singh and Government of India (GoI) when Pakistani tribes entered Jammu and Kashmir. Reports of normalcy were also received from other parts of the Valley, including Baramulla, Sopore, Bandipora and Pattan in north Kashmir and Anantnag, Pulwama and Shopian in south Kashmir. However, security forces remained deployed in some sensitive areas to prevent any law and order problem. Business and other activities also resumed in the twin central Kashmir districts of Budgam and Ganderbal. UNI