More panic in Srinagar after IAF strike on Balakot, residents queue up for petrol

Roads in many downtown areas of Srinagar were deserted, with markets in some areas remaining shut despite no curfew being imposed or bandh being called.

Jammu & Kashmir has been under tight security since the abrogation of Article 370. (Representational Image) | S Irfan/PTI

Srinagar: As news of the Indian Air Force strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Pakistan’s Balakot poured in, hordes of residents across Srinagar queued up outside petrol pumps since early Tuesday morning as rumours spread that pumps were running out of fuel.

“I don’t use my car usually. But when I heard the news in the morning today of some attack by the Indian Air Force in Pakistan, I decided not to take a chance and fill up my tank in case of an emergency. I have been waiting in my car since the last 40 minutes,” said Zahoor Ahmed, who works at the J&K Board of School Education, and came to fill his Maruti 800 at a petrol pump in Rainawari.

Roads in many downtown areas of the city wore a deserted look, with markets in some areas remaining shut despite no curfew being imposed or bandh being called.

Raids at separatists’ houses

Early morning raids conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police at JKLF leader Yasin Malik’s house added to the panic. The NIA also carried out raids at Mirwaiz Omar Farooq’s house at Nigeen in Hazratbal. “The raids are still going on. NIA is conducting it. We are just providing support to the NIA team.The situation here is volatile but under control,” said a senior police officer of Jammu and Kashmir Police, who did not want to be named.

The official said the police were also keeping an eye out if the Supreme Court takes up the case related to abrogating Article 35A.

“There is lot of anger among the locals. We, however, have the law and order under control,” the same official added.

Tahir Ahmed, who runs a car accessory shop in Rainawari, said business has been badly hit because of the situation.

“Half the day we have to down our shutters because of curfew. How are we going to run business like this? Today when I left home, I was not sure if I would be able to open my shop. The situation has deteriorated since November, when talk on tinkering with Article 35A started,” he said.

Ahmed said if his monthly turnover was Rs 1 lakh earlier, it has now come down to Rs 50,000.

‘Unnecessary panic created’

Although the residents of Srinagar are going about their work as usual, they feel apprehensive because of the uncertainty all around.

“Nobody is clearing the air. We are being told to stock up rations and medicines. Yesterday, I got a call from my wife while I was returning from office that there is some talk going on of imposing a 10-day curfew, so I should get a month’s rations,” said Imtiaz Hussain, a resident of Munawarabad.

Hussain, who works at Srinagar’s National Institute of Technology (NIT), said since the last one week, he has been bombarded by emails from students asking if they should return. “The institute is closed now, and is to open on 5 March. About 80 per cent of our students live in the hostel, and they are apprehensive to return,” he said.

“I think there is an unnecessary panic that had been created.”

Rakesh Sehgal, director of the NIT, said the administration was trying to reassure students in whatever way possible.

“When they hear the news, they get panicky. But we have told them that there is no threat inside the NIT campus. But if they are still feeling apprehensive, they can stay back at home and return later,” Sehgal said.

Sehgal, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, said he has been getting calls to return home until the situation normalises. “I told them that I don’t feel any threat,” he said.

Anger over media building war hype

Srinagar residents blamed the media for adding fuel to the fire by building the war narrative.

“The common Kashmiri does not want war. You talk to anybody. We want to go on with our lives like anybody else in any other part of India. But it is the media which has vitiated the atmosphere by portraying Kashmiris as anti-national,” Aijaz ul Qayoom, a Hazratbal resident who works at a government bank, told ThePrint.

Tahir Ahmed, the car accessory shop owner, told this reporter: “You are responsible for burning Kashmir. You are unnecessarily creating drama here.”

This article has been updated to include information about the NIA raid on Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, as well as the J&K Police officer’s quotes.