india

Updated: Aug 13, 2019 08:14 IST

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said on Monday that Eid prayers were offered in all mosques in Kashmir Valley peacefully.

“Today, namaz was offered by the people in every mosque. Namaz took place in every locality,” Malik said.

He said that security restrictions were relaxed on Saturday and Sunday and people did shopping in normal conditions and all arrangements were put in place.

“But in troubled places, we will try to ensure peace because we don’t want even a single life to be lost or people get injured. It is the responsibility of the government to protect our citizens,” he said. “We don’t want troublemakers or any other element creating trouble in which any loss of life takes place and then media and others blame us as to why you could not stop this. Except some limited places, in the rest people are moving freely,” he said. The festive buzz was missing in Kashmir on Monday with Eid prayers limited to neighbourhood mosques as authorities imposed strict controls and security forces fanned out across towns and villages, restricting the movement of people and prohibiting congregations in large grounds. Replying to a question as to when normalcy will return and communication network restored in Kashmir, Malik said that the government did not clamp curfew, but imposed restrictions only.

“For the past two days, everything was totally open...Today is Eid, it is normal,” he said.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)