At the beginning of new year, authorities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in consultation with the Central government, has eased clampdown including less presence of security forces on the streets, restoration of message service on mobile phones and restoration of internet services in government hospitals. According to official sources, barring a dozen political leaders, including three former Chief Ministers, most of the leaders and activists would be released in batches after they sign release bonds of the local police.
A senior official said that the process of restoring normalcy had started with the withdrawal of about 100 additional paramilitary forces companies from Kashmir at the beginning of the new year. He said that political prisoners were being released in a phased manner and most of them would be going home in the coming days of this month if the situation remains normal in the valley.
“The situation on the ground has improved and there is a lot of scope for the government to ease all the restrictions. These restrictions were imposed as a precautionary measure to maintain peace and order,” said the official who is supervising the situation along with the police officers on the ground.
Message service on mobile phones has been restored and the authorities are monitoring the messages to look out for any mischief mongers trying to misuse the service to incite violence.
In the past three weeks, authorities also allowed Friday prayers at all big mosques of Srinagar city, including at Jamia Masjid, Srinagar. While the head cleric of Jamia Masjid and moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq remains under detention, prayers were held without any protest or violence.
With the arrival of the new year, the Centre decided to ease the restrictions in Kashmir. “The internet services would be restored in a phased manner and the process will begin soon,” a senior official said in a media briefing.
Most of the political prisoners who were released in the recent past have been asked to sign release bonds of the police in order to go home. The bond prohibits the political prisoners from speaking to media or organising any protests in any part of Kashmir.
Sources told this newspaper that several former ministers have refused so far to sign release bonds for their release, including People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Gani Lone, National Conference general secretary and former minister Ali Muhammad Sagar, IAS officer turned politician Shah Faesal, former minister of PDP Nayeem Akhtar and PDP youth wing president Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra.
The sources further said that some senior officials had recently met jailed political leaders including three former Chief Ministers. All of them have refused to sign any release bond and Mehbooba Mufti had reportedly told these officers that whenever she is released, she will organise agitation in Kashmir against the scraping of Article 370 and other privileges of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state.