India's war hysteria: AJK shuts madrassas

Govt announces 10-day break to avoid untoward incident

MUZAFFARABAD:

Authorities in Azad Jammu and Kashmir shut more than 1,000 religious schools on Thursday over fears of possible military action from India in retaliation for last week's deadly attack.

Fearing a military escalation, authorities shut more than 1,000 religious schools in AJK. "We have announced a 10-day break for all madrassas in Kashmir," said Hafiz Nazeer Ahmed, head of Kashmir's Department of Religious Affairs.

A department source said it was "due to tensions at the border and the potential for conflict".

About 1.5 million people live near the Line of Control in AJK, where residents are readying simple, mud-walled underground bunkers — reinforced with concrete if they could afford it.

"For one week we have been living in constant fear, particularly concerning the safety of our children," Iftikhar Ahmad Mir, a 44-year-old shopkeeper in Chakothi on the Line of Control, told AFP.

"We make sure they don't roam around after finishing their school and come straight home."

Emergency services workers in Muzaffarabad have also begun training schoolchildren on what to do if India attacks.

"We have learned how to dress a wounded person, how to carry someone on a stretcher and how to put out a fire," said 11-year-old Ali Raza.

In Muzaffarabad, training sessions have already taken place in 13 schools, according to emergency workers.

"In an emergency, schools are the first to be affected, which is why we are starting evacuation training with schoolchildren," Abdul Basit Moughal, a trainer from Pakistan's Civil Defence directorate, told AFP.

The agency will deploy its rescue workers to schools bordering the LoC in the coming days.