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One thing changes= PA will have support from Kashmiris to fight India.
You must have some idea how dangerous angry civilians become during a war.
Doing a "feasibility study" on Independance????? Sure J&K has great leader to follow !
I believe if China offers more benefits ( oh, not to the people, but for this great leader) Geelani would term merging with China as the most "feasible" option.
India Reopens Kashmir’s Schools, but Many Stay Away
NEW DELHI — The Indian government on Monday began the slow, uncertain process of trying to restore normalcy to the violence-racked region of Kashmir. Authorities reopened schools and universities, even as many students stayed away, some out of protest, others out of fear.
Monday marked the first test of the new political initiative announced by the Indian government over the weekend after more than three months of angry confrontation between stone-throwing protesters and Indian security officers. The demonstrations have left at least 108 people dead and coalesced into an angry rebuke of government policies in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The package aimed at calming the situation includes economic aid, a call for easing security strictures and a new political dialogue.
Kashmir is a longtime source of dispute between India and Pakistan, with both countries controlling different parts of the region and claiming all of it. The latest unrest in the Indian portion, the state of Jammu and Kashmir, has been fueled by a rising call from students and others for political self-determination.
Since June, most educational institutions have remained closed in Kashmir, whether because of strikes called by separatist leaders or because of strict government curfews that had closed shops and cleared traffic off streets.
Reopening the schools was considered critical, and the state government announced that teachers with work cards and students in school uniforms would be allowed to pass through the myriad security checkpoints in the region’s summer capital of Srinagar. Bus schedules also were announced.
But on Monday there was an uneven response, with government officials estimating that 30 percent to 80 percent of students showed up for class throughout the Kashmir Valley.
Several students interviewed by telephone said they failed to attend because security officers refused to lift the curfew. At the University of Kashmir in Srinagar, Muhammad Ibrahim, 22, arrived at 10 a.m. for his first day back in 14 weeks. Yet he was the only student in his class of 38 who navigated the checkpoints and made it to school.
Showkat Shafi, spokesman for the university, said most classes on the main campus were closed Monday, while the curfew impeded other students from reaching satellite locations throughout the valley. He said students at the off-campus locations were supposed to begin taking examinations on Monday.
“Students are complaining that they are trying to reach examination centers across the valley, but very few have made it,” he said.
Many students also stayed away as a means of protest over their demands that India make good on promises to allow a referendum on self-rule in Kashmir. Some may have been following the separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who belittled the new government package and announced that families should not send their children back to school. Yet it is unclear how much control leaders like Mr. Geelani have over a protest movement fueled largely by college students.
“The government insists that we go to classes because they want to show the international community that things are normal here in Kashmir,” said Saliq Abbas, a postgraduate student at the University of Kashmir, who refused to return to classes. “But things are not normal.”
The impact of the new political package is likely to become clear only after several more weeks. Last Monday, Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram led a parliamentary delegation on a two-day visit to the region and then announced the new policies from New Delhi late on Saturday afternoon.
On Monday, Mr. Chidambaram framed the efforts to reopen the schools in a positive light, noting that most had opened, while also criticizing a few minor reported episodes of stone throwing at school buses that resulted in no injuries.
“How can any right-thinking person pelt stones on school buses?” he asked in a statement.
Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, called on all political groups — including separatists like Mr. Geelani — to support the resumption of education. “Let us keep education neutral to all conflicts,” he said in a statement.
One of the most pressing questions is when, and to what degree, the authorities will ease the security lockdown that many residents in Srinagar describe as “collective punishment.”
Mr. Chidambaram’s package included a directive for state leaders to reassess the security presence and consider scaling back — a step previously promoted by Mr. Abdullah. Many Kashmiris want India to repeal emergency laws that have given broad powers of arrest and immunity to soldiers, paramilitary officers and police officers in many parts of the region.
Kuldeep Khoda, director of the state police, said decisions on security would be made after a meeting of the Unified Command, consisting of civilian leaders and leaders of security and military agencies.
He said the police had maintained a curfew in Srinagar on Monday as a protective measure against the threat of violence against schools or buses presented by Mr. Geelani’s call for a strike. The police did relax the curfew on Sunday to allow residents to rush out to buy food and other provisions.
The recent political attention on Kashmir has coincided with an almost complete absence of violence during the past week. Taj Mohi-ud-Din, a senior minister in the state government, predicted that more students would attend classes in the coming days, as the situation stabilized and parents became more comfortable with sending out their children. He also said that security would be eased in the future, as long as violence did not return.
“It has to be gradual,” he said. “We have to be certain the withdrawal will not affect the security position.”
Kashmir is a part of Pakistan and soon it will be a reality....
People agree to this or not but its true...
Kashmir: Huriyat supporters attack school buses
Srinagar, Sep 28: Jammu and Kashmir separatist Huriyat Conference supporters attacked buses carrying students as school opened on Monday, Sep 27.
Educational institutions in disturbed Kashmir Valley opened on Monday after more than three months. The violence and curfews imposed in the Valley caused the shut down of schools and colleges.
The separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani asked the Kashmir parents not to send their wards to schools and colleges. However, defying his warning, many students attended the classes. Schools and colleges worked inspite of less attendance. Anxious parents avoided government transport and dropped off their kids themselves their vehicles.
Some of the school administrations turned students away in a few hours fearing about their security after protests broke out at a few places.
"We opened the school on the state government's instructions. But only 100 of the 3,000 students attended the school due to prevailing uncertainty in the Valley," said Jay Kumar, principal, Burn Hall school.
On Monday, Sep 27, Home Minister P Chidambaram expressed pleasure over the reopening of schools in the Valley.
"Government is happy to learn that most schools and colleges have reopened in Jammu and Kashmir and most students have gone back to schools and colleges on Monday. I appeal to all sections of people of Kashmir, especially parents, to cooperate with the state government and ensure that all schools and colleges function normally," said Chidambaram in a statement.