Queen of Hills back to its peaceful self
PROTESTS RECEDE After a flurry of protests in the past few days, tranquillity returns with traders opening shops on Friday
SHIMLA : A day after vociferous protests, the state’s capital on Friday morning was calm as usual. The shops at Mall Road and Lower Bazaar were open and a few tourists could also be seen at the historic Ridge Maidan. There were no reports of violent protests from the rural apple-growing areas of Shimla district as well.
On Thursday, the town saw hundreds of locals thronging the streets and holding protests and marches seeking justice for Kotkhai teenager, gangraped and murdered earlier this month. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had given a bandh call on Thursday, was also joined by civil society groups.
“Traders had shut shops on Thursday to seek justice for the schoolgirl. Today, shops are open like on any other day,” said a garment shop owner, Sidharth Rana at Mall Road.
The supply of essential commodities was also reported to be normal.
Meanwhile, the BJP plans to hold a protest later in the day, while Shimla Nagrik Manch, a civil society group, will hold a meeting of resident welfare associations (RWAs) of the city at the Bachat Bhawan to chalk out their future strategy.
The prevailing calm in the city brought smiles to tourists who had to remain holed up in their hotels during the protests yesterday. Hardeep Dhuvan, a kabaddi player from Gohana in Haryana, who could not visit Kufri and Fagu on Thursday, said he was now planning a trip to these places.
“We had to cancel all our plans due to protests. Since even the shops remained closed, there was nothing much we could do yesterday,” said Dhuvan.
Another group of tourists from Bathinda said they had trouble reaching Shimla on Thursday evening and they were also apprehensive about their visit due to reports of unrest. “But by evening, the situation was normal. And we were able to get a room for our- selves,” said Devnajot Dhaliwal from Bathinda.
There were reports of peaceful protests from Kotgarh and Thanadhar areas of the district on Friday morning, nearly 60 km from Shimla. Kotkhai town, the epicenter of protests, where a mob had torched a thana on Tuesday, remained peaceful on Friday.
There were also no reports of blockades and violent protests in Theog, which connects Kotkhai and other rural areas of the apple growing belt with Shimla town through a national highway.