Srinagar : It has been over two weeks since Shahid Ahmad, a 10th class student, did not venture out of home in Srinagar’s Lalbazaar area. Whole day, he remains glued to television and watching news related to coronavirus. He remains disturbed and has even lost his appetite.
Shahid’s father, Mohammad Altaf is worried as his son has lost interest in studies. “School authorities have put study material and lectures of teachers on their websites but my son is not able to access them due to low internet speed,” he said with a distraught face.
During 2019 unrest after abrogation of Article 370, his son was taking tuition’s at a community school which was started by a local youth.
“Kashmiris are used to lock-downs but this time no one is visiting to each other and want to maintain distance. In this lock-down children can neither take online classes, or go to Jammu or Delhi for tuitions neither community schools have been set up,” Altaf added.
Last year post August 5, Mohammad Sharif, a resident of Hyderpora took his entire family to Jammu where his children also took tuitions. “The 2019 lock-down did not affect my children much. But this time it is a worrisome situation. We can’t go outside Kashmir nor students can get study material or avail the facility of online classes due to low internet speed,” he said.
Sharif’s son Mohsin Ahmad, a class 8th student is confined inside four walls for last three weeks.
Unlike the previous shutdowns, when most Kashmiris were opposite to government but people and administration are on the same page on COVID-19 lockdown in the valley.
During 2016, 2017, or 2019 unrest, government wanted people to start their normal businesses and give a sense of normalcy to the world. Some leaders were leading those shutdowns.
The streets of Kashmir also wear a deserted look and resemble with the previous lockdowns but there is lot of fear involved this time.
Dr Ajaz Ashraf Wani, who teaches at Political Science Department of Kashmir University, gives varied reasons why this lockdown is completely different from previous ones.
“This is global and cause is a virus that is threatening people globally. It is not political but it is issue of survival. It can’t be compared with what we have seen earlier in Kashmir,” he told news agency KINS.
He said the earlier lockdowns or clampdowns were “local and mostly political” in nature.
“If state wanted to impose clampdown, people would like to defy it and vice versa. But in present case, it is also a sort of voluntary ‘stay at home’ decision by people,” he said.
Senior Superintendent of Police Srinagar Dr Haseeb Mughal has said, “This time, it’s not a fight against militancy. People should cooperate with police who are deployed round the clock on roads and streets of Srinagar for their safety.”(KINS)
