SRINAGAR: Schools
reopened in Indian Kashmir's main city yesterday but most classrooms were empty
as parents kept their children home, fearing unrest over the government's
decision two weeks ago to revoke the region's autonomy. Some 190 primary
schools were set open in Srinagar in a sign of normalcy returning to Muslim
majority Jammu and Kashmir where authorities started to ease restrictions on
movement last week.

Parents said
their children would stay home until cellular networks are restored and they
can be in contact with them. "How can we risk the lives of our
children?" said Gulzar Ahmad, a father of two children enrolled in a
school in the city's Batamaloo district where protests have occurred.

"Troops have
arrested minor children in the last two weeks and several children were injured
in clashes," he said. "Our children are safe inside their homes. If
they go to school who can guarantee their safety?" Authorities have
previously denied reports of mass arrests. Srinagar's top administrative
officer, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, said on Sunday that adequate security would be
provided for schools. "I will take responsibility for any untoward
incident," he added.

Protests began
after the Aug 5 decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to
withdraw Kashmir's special status and integrate it fully into India, with equal
rights for all Indians to buy property there and compete for government jobs.
Critics said the decision alienated many Kashmiris and would add fuel to a
30-year armed revolt in the Himalayan territory that Pakistan also lays claim
to. Paramilitary police in riot gear and carrying assault rifles stood behind
steel barricades and coils of razor wire in Srinagar's old quarter to deter a
repeat of weekend protests.

In dense
neighborhoods such as Batamaloo, youths set up makeshift barricades to block
security forces from entering. Authorities reimposed curbs on movement in parts
of Srinagar on Sunday after overnight clashes between residents and police in
which dozens were injured, two senior officials and witnesses said. Reuters
journalists visited two dozen schools in Srinagar yesterday. Some schools were
lightly staffed and classrooms deserted. Gates at other schools were locked.

Only one student
showed up at Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, which has an
enrolment of 1,000 pupils, and went home, said a school official. There were no
students at the barricaded Burn Hall school in one of the city's high security
zones. "How can students come to classes in such a volatile situation? The
government is turning these little children into cannon fodder," a teacher
said, among a handful of staff who turned up for work.

Cross border
firing

New Delhi's
decision on Kashmir has heightened tensions with its neighbor and rival nuclear
power, Pakistan, and triggered cross-border exchanges of fire. In the latest
incident, two civilians were killed in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir by Indian
soldiers firing across the border, Pakistan's foreign ministry said, adding
that it had summoned India's deputy commissioner in Islamabad to protest.

"The
ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and
may lead to a strategic miscalculation," the foreign ministry said. There
was no immediate comment from India which has previously accused Pakistan of
trying to whip up tensions to draw global attention. Indian Defense Minister
Rajnath Singh said on Sunday there would be no talks with Pakistan until it
acted against anti-India militant groups operating from its soil. Any
negotiation would focus on the part of Kashmir held by Pakistan, he told a
political rally in India.

The scenic
mountain region is divided between India, which rules the populous Kashmir
Valley and the Hindu-dominated region around Jammu city, Pakistan, which
controls a wedge of territory in the west, and China, which holds a thinly
populated high-altitude area in the north. More than 50,000 people have died in
the revolt that erupted against Indian rule in Kashmir in 1989. India blames
Pakistan for giving material support to the militants and helping them cross
into its part of the mountainous region. Pakistan denies the allegation and
says it only gives moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their
struggle for self determination. - Reuters