DNA Edit: Business as usual – Valley begins to get normal, much to the chagrin of some

First things first. While how things transpire in the Kashmir Valley will only be known once curbs are lifted and movement of the entire population becomes free, the first signs are heartening. The state administration has restored low-speed mobile internet, landline services and eased restrictions on movement of people in selective areas. With the restoration of 2G mobile internet services in five districts of the Jammu division and making of 17 telephone exchanges operational across Kashmir Valley, normalcy is being restored. Similar relaxation has been provided in 35 police stations in the Kashmir Valley. 

According to the government, most telephone exchanges in the Valley were expected to be functional by Sunday evening, while landlines are fully operational in Jammu division. One good sign of normalcy is the plying of public transport, which is becoming more regular than ever. Thus far no untoward incident has been reported from the Valley, but that is also because agent provocateurs are lying low. For the first time in their lives, they are guessing what the government’s next move is going to be, instead of the other way round. The good news is that the government has given the green light about opening of schools in the Valley. Beginning Monday, primary schools will start functioning, in addition to government offices that will open for the first time since August 5, when a lockdown was declared. 

Importantly, authorities have appealed to Srinagar residents not to start panic buying as the situation was starting to ease out. Not surprisingly, the last fortnight has witnessed two polarising journalistic narratives coming out of Kashmir. To a certain extent, both are hyperbolic as far as their content goes. The first are the traditional media dons in Srinagar, very much used to the Abdullahs and Muftis, as far as getting their daily dose of news and gossip is concerned. With these two stalwart political families under wraps, this group of scribes is at a loose end under the newly crafted rules of business imposed by New Delhi. For them, it is the end of Kashmir, as they knew it and that is enough reason for them to paint the most horrific and dark picture about the state, particularly the Valley. That is why an AFP report about ‘severe clashes’ in the Kashmir Valley finds no resonance in the national media. 

Yet, according to reliable journalistic accounts, reporters have travelled extensively in the state, including its highly troubled southern part, without any curfew passes. Security forces have been instructed to go out of the way to be extra-polite, so that already ruffled feathers are not ruffled up further. The other narrative is of TV journalists stuck to their OB vans, not willing to moving out of their comfort zones. All this while their bosses, safely ensconced in their Delhi studios have been tweeting about the severe information blackout. Still, the scene is far from normal, but there seems to be some disappointment about nothing untoward and really big happening. As normalcy is restored, the administration will have to be on heightened vigil. No one can afford to let their guards down.