Army’s decision to shut school raises questions

‘School not permanently shut’

5 Dariya News (Yawar Shafi)

Srinagar 20-Aug-2014

The army’s decision to shut a school run by the force in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district has raised questions with parents saying the continuous anti-India clashes and protests in the area have ‘irked’ the army.The authorities of Army Goodwill Public School in Hajin Township of the district had told students that the school would be off till Saturday without citing any ‘concrete reason’, the parents told GNS. “My two children study in the school and yesterday, they were told by the authorities not to come to the school till Sunday. They were told that the front side of the wall is to be repaired which was dismantled by unknown persons during clashes,” Habibullah, a resident of the town, told GNS.

“I am very much confused. We don’t understand what are they doing and what actually they want,” he added.Lateef-ur-Rehman, another parent, believes that the ‘non-involvement’ of the locals in army’s Sadbhavna and other programs could be the reason behind the move. “The situation in the town changed drastically since last year,” he said, adding, this year the town witnessed frequent protests. “May be that could be the case.”Ghulam Hassan, a resident of the town, whose children were studying in the school till year 2013, claimed that army wants to establish a camp in the compound of the school. “They simply want to shut the school,” he told GNS. He said last year the army also closed down the school after a room of the school was torched during protests.

 “I felt that my children were not secure in the school and that is why I admitted them in another school,” he added.The parents said the army’s decision to shut the school during mid-session has disturbed them mentally.“We don’t know what exactly is the reason but it seems the army is irked with the continuous protests and clashes in the town,” the parents.A parent, who wished not to be named, told GNS that the army camp near the police station may be removed. “They have lost the case with some department and now they want to shift their camp in the school compound. They want to wind up the school and stay there,” he claimed.Abdul Rashid, the school’s principal, told GNS that the higher authorities ordered them to shut the school for ‘two to three’ days. “Basically, the wall of the school has been dismantled and the authorities told us that it has happened two, three times. They said they want to get solution of the problem,” he said. He, however, dismissed parents’ claim that the school would be shut permanently.  Despite repeated attempts, army officials, including its spokesman based in Srinagar, could not be contacted. (GNS)