New Delhi/Jammu: The situation in all three regions of Jammu and Kashmir is totally peaceful, top officials said on Tuesday but that did little to dispel the clouds of anxiety for lakhs of Kashmiris and many others as another day went by with the Valley blacked out from the world.
With few workable phone and internet connections, just smatterings of information filtered out from the curtain of non-communication.
There was also no news of former chief ministers, NC's Omar Abdullah and PDP's Mehbooba Mufti, as well as People's Conference's leader Sajjad Lone, who were arrested in Srinagar on Monday evening.
'Totally peaceful'
There are no untoward reports from anywhere in the state and the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir is "totally peaceful", Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said from Srinagar, a day after the Rajya Sabha approved the resolution withdrawing the state's special status under Article 370 and the bill proposing that it be bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
On Tuesday evening, the Lok Sabha gave its approval too.
Television channels aired visuals of celebratory fireworks as news came in of Parliament approving the government's far-reaching move.
There is a virtual communications blackout in Srinagar. But the situation across the three regions Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh is peaceful and people who have urgent work or report emergency are allowed to move from one place to another despite the restrictions.
All educational institutes across the state remained closed for the second consecutive day. Most roads are barricaded in Srinagar city and traffic is being regulated.
In Srinagar city, under a security and communications lockdown, people with urgent work are being allowed to move despite strict restrictions, Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choduhary said in his message.
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh chaired a meeting of the Core Group of Intelligence and Security Agencies in Srinagar to review the operational readiness in case of any contingency.
Pakistan, he said, has intensified its efforts at increasing the strength of terrorists in launch pads along the LoC over the past few days and pushing infiltrators into Jammu and Kashmir. But the Indian Army will respond with resolve and the costs will be prohibitive for them, he said.
According to a press release issued by Udhampur-based Army officials, Singh also said necessary security arrangements were in place to ensure peace and security.
Leaders under house-arrest
But all of that was scant comfort, even for NC chief Farooq Abdullah. The 81-year-old said he learnt about the arrests of his son Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba only through the media.
He contested Home Minister Amit Shah's assertion in the Lok Sabha that he was neither under detention nor arrest and was at his home of his own will. Emotional but determined, he said they will fight and go to court against the Modi government's decision.
"As soon as the gates will open, our people will be out, we will fight, we'll go to the court. We're not gun-runners, grenade-throwers, stone-throwers, we believe in peaceful resolution of things," he told TV channels in Srinagar.
Among the few other images that came through the day were desolate streets with security personnel.
With not much to go by, M Junaid, whose Twitter bio said he is a cultural anthropologist, was one of the many thousands who vented their anguish on social media.
"Just so that you know, we have still not been able to speak with our families in Kashmir. There are dark whispers being shared about South Kashmir where my folks are. It has been the longest 24 hours, and there seems no end in sight...," he said on Tuesday morning.
Unable to express their pain in words, many simply shared the last conversations they had with their loved ones.
Kashmiris in dark
Khalid Singh, a Delhi-based associate fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, tweeted, "On my last phone call my mother said: how will you get to know if I die'?"
Local Kashmiris and tourists reaching the national capital from Srinagar were full of stories on their "disconnect" from the rest of the country.
"It is back to the stone age for Kashmir, said 42-year-old Khursheed Ahmed, who was heading to Haj via Delhi.
Sheikh, 32, who works in the corporate sector, and travels frequently for business purposes, poured his heart out.
"We felt caged inside in our own city. Our mobile phone connection has been snapped, Internet shut, even cable TVs and landlines connections cut," he said.
Tourists and Kashmiri locals who reached Delhi on Tuesday appeared relieved at being out of the uncertainty sweeping the Valley but expressed their angst at the situation there, with some saying it is akin to the Stone Age without lines of communication.
They also rued the heavy security deployment in the Valley as tension persisted in the region over revoking of the provisions of Article 370, which gave special powered to the state.
"The decision and its aftereffects have made everything stand still in the Valley," said Zehra Bashir, visibly angry at being unable to inform her parents that she has reached Delhi safely.
"Forget about Internet, even the phone lines are dead," Bashir, who had come to the national capital to pursue her MBA, said.
Asked about her views on scrapping of the provisions of Article 370, she replied, "Bomb phenk diya jaise unhone (It was as if they dropped a bomb)".
It took her four hours to reach the airport from her home in Shalimar Bagh in Srinagar, she said.
"I can't explain how I managed to reach the (Srinagar) airport, may be because I was going to Hajj they allowed me. But of course, the situation is bad, pretty bad," said Khursheed Ahmed after reaching the Delhi airport.
"It is back to the Stone Age for Kashmir. There is no means of communication whatsoever," he said.
Farooq Sheikh, 32, who works in the corporate sector and travels frequently out of the state for business, appeared deeply apprehensive.
"We felt caged inside in our own city. Our mobile phone connection has been snapped, Internet shut, even cable TVs and landlines are down. We felt like we were caged, or being jailed in our own home, our own city," he said.
Imtiyaz Ahmad Khan, 55, a Srinagar-based state government employee is among the 40 odd Haj-bound travellers who arrived in Delhi on Monday, a day ahead of their scheduled time.
"We are deeply apprehensive about what is happening, so we all came a day earlier. Kashmir is burning. We see going to Haj, but with no peace in mind," he said.
A Kashmiri woman from Srinagar, who did not wish to be identified, said, "The security situation is very tense. No one is leaving their homes".
"Our Kashmir is burning. But, no one can see or get to know as lines of communications have been cut. Our Valley is burning beneath a cover," she said.
Meghna Negi had waited for long to undertake the Amarnath Yatra with her mother and sister. She said she got the news of the curtailment of the yatra and the subsequent shutdown in the Valley only after they touched down at the Srinagar airport.
"We spent a good amount for this trip. But as luck had it we ended up being stuck at our hotel in Srinagar. Yes, the advisory was that tourists should leave but did you see the increase in the prices of airlines ticket.
"So we decided to stay and leave on the pre-assigned date only.
"I am extremely thankful to the people of the valley, they all were very very helpful Throughout. I wish things turn back to normal soon and we get to visit the valley and the hospitality of its people once again," she said.
Many still stranded
There were also those who looked for ways to go home from the Valley to make another life for themselves.
Like the migrant workers and daily wage labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other heartland states, who told NDTV they were worried about what the future holds for them.
Thousands of them, who come to the Valley to earn livelihood, are stranded in Srinagar as there have been little or no availability of inter-state bus services.
The curfew-like situation has affected their livelihood as there have been a total closure of construction works in parts of the state amid restrictions and heavy security deployment.
(With inputs from agencies)
