The curfew imposed in Kashmir Valley in the wake of seperatist leaders' call for a march was lifted this morning, more than 50 hours after it was enforced.
The curfew, which was lifted at 5 am, had been imposed to thwart a march by separatists to Lal Chowk here yesterday to protest against the continuation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
The decision to lift the curfew, imposed on the midnight of Saturday, was taken by the state government after reviewing the situation in the valley in the day when huge deployment of security forces and sealing of entry and exit points in Srinagar foiled the march.
The authorities decided to withdraw the curfew keeping in mind the difficulties faced by the people, official sources said.
The Coordination Committee, an amalgam of separatist groups, has also given a call for resuming normal activities from today.
A fresh meeting of the separatist conglomerate would be held tomorrow to firm up the next course of action.
The Coordination Committee leaders asked students to appear in examinations, farmers to attend to their crops and business community to resume their normal activities. The people-friendly measures came close on the heels after villagers in three areas - Pahalgam, Kokernag and Sri Gufwara - shouted slogans against the coordination committee for disrupting normal life regularly.
The normalisation call was also given after the business community expressed displeasure as a 15-member delegation of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir Chamber of Commerce delegation is expected to visit later this week to finalise the cross-LoC trade between two parts of Kashmir.
Source: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/oct/071008-Kashmir-curfew.htm
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