<p>Members of the Kashmiri business community shout slogans during a protest against challenging Article 35-A ... Read More

SRINAGAR: Kashmir is set to witness dampened wedding celebrations this year. As fear looms over the fate of Article 35-A of the Constitution, which grants special status to the people of the state, Kashmiris are preferring quiet weddings.

Since the past several days, newspapers have been filled with announcements cancelling wedding invitations and grand feasts on August 30 and 31.

The Article 35-A bars people from outside the state from acquiring immovable properties in the state.

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an amalgam of various separatist outfits, called for a complete shutdown across the Valley on August 30 and 31, coinciding with the date of hearing of the petitions against the Article 35-A in the SC, in protest against any attempt to “tinker with the special status”.

The SC is due to hear the main petition against Article 35-A on August 31. Sheikh Mohammad Sayeed from Srinagar is disheartened. He had planned to host a ‘wazwan’ on the wedding of his son Khalid on August 29 and 30. “But I was forced to cancel the feast due to the shutdown call by the separatists. The situation may turn hostile and the guests may have to face a lot of inconvenience. I will host a quiet Nikah ceremony,” Sayeed said.

Several others in the Valley share similar anxiety. Haji Hafiz Ullah Mandoo of Wazir Bagh locality of Srinagar had planned to take guests for a ‘wazwan’ on the wedding of his son Shuaib Mohammad to a nearby locality. However, he later decided to get the bride without any feast. The Valley has witnessed similar cancellations in the past too.

