Kashmir unrest: Mehbooba Mufti calls burning of schools 'unfortunate'

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday expressed a deep concern over the burning of schools in the Kashmir valley and termed it "unfortunate".

File photo of Mehbooba Mufti. PTI

"The govt has already taken into custody some miscreants who burned schools. I hope there should be some good news for us in next one week," she said on the sidelines of the opening of Civil Secretariat in Jammu.

Over 30 schools have been burnt in various parts of the Valley during the past four months of civil unrest.

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Commenting on the ceasefire violations on the border with Pakistan, the Chief Minister said: "Neighbours cannot be changed and both India and Pakistan have to live together. My hope is the shelling on the borders would stop and the ceasefire restored."

Mehbooba also inspected a guard of honour in the heavily-guarded Civil Secretariat building in the heart of Jammu city.

The Secretariat opened in Jammu after functioning from Srinagar during past six months as part of Darbar move.

The Darbar move is a biannual feature in which the civil secretariat stays for six months of winter (from November to April) in Jammu, the winter capital, and returns to the Kashmir Valley for the summer months (May to October). The practice is on in the state since the time of Dogra ruler Maharaja Ranbir Singh who first introduced it in 1872.

The offices had closed in summer capital Srinagar on 27 October.

The state government functioning in Srinagar had been marred by the unrelenting unrest marked by hartals, lockdowns and curfews that began on 9 July following the killing of a top Hizbul Mujaheedin commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir Kokernag area.

The unrest which entered 122-day on Monday has so far claimed over 90 lives while thousands others have been wounded with over one thousand having received pellet injuries in one or both eyes.

Thousands have been arrested by the security forces during the past nearly four months, with over 400 detained under public safety act (PSA).