Children back to studies as schools reopen in J-K's Rajouri

Rajouri (J-K) [India], Oct. 20 (ANI): Schools in Noushera and Manjakote sectors of Rajouri District of Jammu and Kashmir, which were closed following the Centre's order post the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army along the Line of Control (LoC) on September 29, have finally reopened. Around 195 schools, which came within the perimeter of five kms of the LoC, were closed down due to cease-fire violations done by Pakistan. Chief Education Officer of Rajouri, Choudhary Altaf Hussain, told ANI, "As soon as we got the directions to close down the schools within the perimeters of 10 kilometres along the LoC keeping in mind the safety of children, we immediately shut down all the schools." "Those schools remained closed for at least a week. But later on we opened those schools as the conditions became normal. However, two days later, there was another ceasefire violation due to which a primary school was closed," he added. The Chief Education Officer further said that at present, none of the schools is closed and they are functioning normally. Mohd Azam, a teacher at one of the schools, said that everything is back to normal and students are once again busy with their studies. "It is by God's grace that conditions are back to normal and students are studying which is good not only for them, but their parents as well," he told ANI. Eleven days after terrorists killed 19 Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir Uri Sector, the Indian Army targeted "some terrorist teams" positioned at launch pads on the LoC. Following which, schools and other institutions along the LoC were ordered a complete closure. This move was taken by the Union Home Ministry suspecting the escalation of tension along the LoC. (ANI)