Weddings cancelled in Valley over 35- A

Srinagar: As tensions are escalating in Kashmir ahead of the hearing on Article 35A, weddings and social events scheduled later this week have been cancelled or rescheduled.

As tensions are escalating in Kashmir ahead of the hearing in the Supreme Court ( SC) on Article 35A of the Constitution, weddings and other social events, board and university examinations and even some official functions scheduled later this week in the Valley are being cancelled or rearranged.

The apex court will hear the bunch of petitions challenging the Article 35A on August 31. According to the cause list released by the SC registry, the case figuring at serial number 18 among the cases listed on Friday will be heard by a threejudge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

“Joint Resistance Leadership ( JRL)”, the alliance of key separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, has called for a two- day shutdown in the State from August 30 in protest against the “onslaught” on Article 35A. The call has been endorsed by various political, social, religious and trade organisations and civil society groups.

A similar strike had brought life to a standstill in the Kashmir Valley and Chenab valley and parts of Pirpanjal belt of the State’s Jammu region on August 5 and 6, coinciding with the hearing in the case in the SC. The hearing was, however, adjourned as Justice DY Chandrachud, one of three judges in bench, was not present. The court had said, “Let it be listed before a three- judge bench in the week commencing August 27 to determine whether it should be heard by a Constitution bench or not”.

In view of rising tensions and the strike call, various educational institutions in the Valley have announced a two- day break from August 30 whereas the board and university level examinations which were to be conducted on these two days have been postponed. Some government functions planned for Thursday and Friday have been deferred too. Various Srinagar newspapers have during the past couple of days carried paid advertisements announcing the cancelation of wedding receptions which had been scheduled between Wednesday and Saturday. Some weddings, as per announcements made through newspapers, have, however, been made austere by restricting them to performing of nikah with simplicity and without serving traditional wazwaan cuisine to guests. On Monday, about three dozen people were injured in violence as parts of Kashmir Valley erupted following some private TV channels reported that that the SC was resuming hearing on the petitions challenging Article 35A instead of August 31 later during the day ( Monday). However, the police blamed the situation on “rumour- mongering by miscreants”.

The officials were quick to clarify that it was actually a fresh petition filed by a right- wing activist.