Jammu, September 27: As schools reopened in the Kashmir Valley Monday after a gap of over three months, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah advised the media not to ‘hype’ the event ‘because the lives of children are at stake’.
Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of a government function, Abdullah said: ‘My request to all of you in the media would be that the opening of schools in the valley should not be played up’ as he feared it may bring harm the children’s way.
‘It should not be given hype, because the lives of children are at stake,’ the chief minister said. His comments came after school buses came under attack of stone throwers at some places in the valley Monday. However, police claimed that the local residents of the area themselves gave chase to such ‘miscreants’ and made them disperse at places.
Educational institutions in the valley have remained closed since mid-June following stone throwing and clashes between protesters and police that left 108 civilians dead during this period. The central government had told the Kashmir government to ensure re-opening of schools and colleges Monday as part of an eight-point initiative to restore normalcy.
Separatists, particularly hardliner Syed Ali Geelani, has opposed students attending schools during the days of general strikes. According to his protest calendar, there is a call for general strike on Monday.
Abdullah justified the decision to re-open schools Monday, saying that the ‘government cannot ignore the future of the children. We can compensate everything but not the lives nor the studies lost during the period of turmoil.’
In New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram expressed happiness over schools reopening in the valley and said attempts by stone-throwers to attack school buses were ‘mischievous’.
According to the home ministry, there were a few incidents of stone-throwers attacking school buses. ‘There were a few minor incidents of stone-pelting on school buses at Habak, Bemina and Nowgam,’ the statement said.
‘How can any right-thinking person pelt stones at school buses?’ Chidambaram asked.
At least 108 people have been killed in the Kashmir Valley, mostly in firing by the security forces during clashes with stone-throwing protesters over the past three and a half months. The unrest had led to schools being shut in the valley.
–IANS