Why J&K Night Curfew Is A Hogwash

As the J&K administration Thursday directed the divisional administration to impose a night curfew from 10 pm to 6 am in the urban areas of the eight districts including five districts of Kashmir affected by the Covid spike, it has evoked a reaction from the Kashmiris as there is no nightlife in the Valley for the past three decades.

“Directed the divisional administration to impose Corona curfew from 10 pm to 6 am in the urban areas of 8 districts affected by the recent #COVID spike. These districts are #Jammu, #Udhampur, #Kathua, #Srinagar, #Baramulla, #Budgam, #Anantnag and #Kupwara,” Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha tweeted.

“Please tell him Kashmir shuts down at 8 pm and there is no need to impose a curfew. We don't have night clubs and night partying here. You can't simply replicate the Mumbai model in Srinagar. Better shut down the tulip garden. Or that is important to show normalcy?” wrote journalist Basharat Masood. Others said night curfew in Kashmir is like washing a car when it is raining.

“How does night curfew work in a place like Kashmir? This is not a metro city- The nightlife stopped here post 89. They need to ensure people wear masks, proper tests are done and a maximum number of people are vaccinated. Not this hogwash,” wrote Tanvir Sadiq, senior NC leader and political advisor to former Omar Abdullah.

The government is being asked to make RT-PCR tests of travellers necessary before they embark on Kashmir trip, impose bans on exhibitions and fairs like it were done in Jammu and regulate people visiting the gardens like Tulip garden in the Valley instead of announcing the night curfew.