Srinagar, May 17 (KMS): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, normal life already affected by India-imposed military siege coupled with police crackdowns and raids has grinded to a halt as lockdown in the name of Covid has been extended till May 24.
Markets remain shut and public transport is off the road. The officials said restrictions on the movement and assembly of people continued to remain in force on Sunday and public transport was off the roads. Roads have been sealed by the Indian forces and barricades have been put at many places in Srinagar and other district headquarters of the valley.
On April 29, the administration had imposed a curfew in 11 districts in the name of tackling the surge in Covid-19 cases, which was subsequently extended to all the 20 districts the next day till May 17.However, on Saturday, the lockdown was extended till 7 am on May 24.
Locals have complained that Modi regime is using Covid as a pretext for lockdown, because its forces have stepped up cordon and search operations during the lockdown. If the regime is so much worried about the well being of the local people, why the troops conduct raids every now and then and force them to assemble outside at a close distance while the troops are also without masks, they asked. They said that Covid is just an excuse to further inflict pain and agony on the Kashmiri people.