Journalism of Courage
WHILE RESTRICTIONS on movement and communication continue in most parts of the Valley, the administration has decided to re-open middle schools from Wednesday.
But the J&K government spokesperson, Rohit Kansal, said there was an “improvement” in attendance on Tuesday. Addressing the media, he said that while student attendance was not high on Monday, “today, as we have reviewed the position, we have noticed a considerable improvement in attendance of children and encouraging feedback and requests from parents”.
“Keeping that in view, and keeping in view the number of requests we have received, it has been decided that middle schools in Kashmir Valley would also start functioning from tomorrow in areas where primary schools were open,” he said.
However, with the security lockdown continuing in most parts of the Valley, many parents expressed concern about the safety of their children.
“The government is putting the lives of our children on the line just to project signs of normalcy,” said Raashid Ahmad (42), father of a seven-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl. “That’s why I didn’t send my children to school on Monday, and that’s why other parents also told their children to stay home. How can we allow the government to play with the lives of our children,” he said.
“Instead of trying to project normalcy, the government should actually try to restore normalcy. It is good to open schools, but you need to have a peaceful environment for that,” said Ghulam Nabi, a resident of uptown Srinagar. “The government’s priority should be to end the information blackout, create an environment for opening government offices and business houses, and restore public transport. We need to get a sense of security before we can actually send our children to school,” he said.
“My daughter is just six years old; if something happens on the way to school, how will I find her, especially since there is total information blackout. If the government is sincere, let them start by re-opening colleges and universities first. Just because they fear protests by students, they are using small children,” said Zubair Ahmad, a government employee from Sopore.
At his daily briefing, when told that most parents were afraid to send their children to school, Kansal said, “I appreciate your concern”. Asked for details of students who turned up on Tuesday, he sought more time.
Asked how he had received requests from parents to re-open schools amid the communication blockade, Kansal replied: “A valid point. The communication blockade doesn’t prevent you and me from talking to each other”.
Earlier, Kansal said that of the 197 police stations in J&K, there are no day-time restrictions in 136 police station areas. He said that 12 of the 22 districts in J&K were functioning normally. “If we look at Kashmir alone, 50 of the 111 police stations have no day-time restrictions,” he said. “Government offices have opened, and are, in fact, reporting more than normal attendance,” he said.
