Bhadarwah June 17: After briefly relaxing the restrictions yesterday, authorities on Friday reimposed curfew in Bhaderwah town of Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda for the ninth day with additional deployment of security forces after a communal flare up.
The curfew in Bhaderwah town was imposed on June 9 following communal tension in the wake of protests over the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by now-removed BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and some social posts by local right wing activists in her support.
The curfew was relaxed twice for a total of five hours in the town – from 9 am to 12 pm and 3 pm to 5 pm – Thursday last week and this period passed off peacefully without any untoward incident, police said.
Today, the curfew was reimposed without any relaxation in the town to ward off any trouble after the Friday prayers, an official said.
“A decision to relax the curfew will be taken later in the day after the peaceful culmination of the Friday prayers,” the official said, adding additional forces were deployed outside mosques across Doda district as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order.
One person was arrested and nine others detained for creating communal tension over the past week following registration of three FIRs at the local police station.
A lookout notice was also pasted at the house of an accused who is evading arrest despite raids at several places in Bhaderwah, the officials said. Assuring full cooperation to the administration, Anjuman-e-Islamia sought the arrest of all those behind fanning communal hatred.
“People from only one community were arrested or detained so far but those belonging to other communities, who provoked the people through social media posts, have been let off. One among them has sought an anticipatory bail,” an office-bearer of the religious group said.
Meanwhile students who have to appear on NEET on June 23 and other job aspirants who have to submit their forms online requested to authorities that the suspended internet services should be restored at the earliest considering the future of the youth who are made to suffer because of the misdeeds of a handful of miscreants.
“I’m unable to fathom why authorities have made us the scape goats for no fault of ours. We have to appear in NEET and without Internet facility how is it possible to compete at that? My request to authorities is to please restore the Internet facility for the sake of our future,” said Rutba Qazi, a student from Pasri Mohalla.
“Guilty should be punished and rumor mongers be taken to task but because of a handful of miscreants, how can you justify to punish entire youth of the area? Our future is at stake as we can’t afford to carry on with our studies and other day today works without Internet facility. So punish the guilty and restore internet facility for the sake of our future,” said Ronika Sharma of Udrana Bhadarwah.