Over 10,000 candidates sit for MBBS test, situation generally calm in Valley (Roundup)

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No major incident of violence occurred anywhere in the Kashmir Valley Sunday as over 10,000 candidates sat for the common entrance test (CET) for selection to medical course in various colleges of the state.

A senior police officer said the overall law and order situation remained peaceful in the Valley on Sunday although sporadic protests occurred at few places.

"No major incident of violence took place anywhere in the Valley today (Sunday) and the law and order situation generally remained peaceful," the officer said.

Over 10,000 candidates from 10 districts of Kashmir sat for the CET exam here.

Authorities had made special arrangements of to and fro transport for the candidates from different district headquarters of the Valley to Srinagar city.

An official of the board of professional entrance examination (BOPEE) said on Sunday evening that the exam had successfully concluded with over 92 per cent aspirants for the MBBS course taking the test.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti visited some exam centres in the city and interacted with the candidates and the staff deployed for conducting the test.

At one exam centre, some parents waiting for their children shouted anti-India slogans during the chief minister's visit.

Speaking to the media, Mehbooba Mufti said the society will have to introspect carefully about the state of affairs in the Valley.

"Our educational system, economic and social fabric is being destroyed through a systematic conspiracy and the people must think about this carefully.

"Many well-to-do parents are sending their children to educational institutions outside the Valley. Our students are excelling in every field, but if the educational system continues to suffer because of the designs of some people then what would happen to our children?"

She also referred to a poster campaign by some stone pelters who have warned girls not to drive scooties, threatening to burn the girls along with the two-wheeler.

"What message are we trying to send across by threatening our girls not to drive scooties and not to wear good clothes while attending marriage ceremonies? Is this the future we are promising our daughters?" she asked.

Meanwhile, authorities continued curfew and restrictions in the Valley to maintain and order on Sunday.

Separatists have extended their protest calendar till August 5 asking people to resume normal activities of life after 6 p.m. each day till August 5.

Senior separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq have been placed under house arrest in their uptown residences in Srinagar city.

Muhammad Yasin Malik, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has been shifted to the Central Jail here from a local police station where he had been lodged for the last 19 days.

--IANS

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