China faces protests in its own country when Hong Kong took to the streets on Sunday pressing for democracy and Taiwan brewing up to say that it is “not part of China”. The frog leap of China to help Pakistan has now been curtailed by its own set of problems mushrooming in its backyard.

Back home in India, the litmus test will be done on Monday (today) when all the 190 schools in Srinagar will reopen and the “normalcy” will be gauged in the Kashmir Valley nearly after 73 years. There will be no protection of Article 370 or 35 A and Jammu and Kashmir is now under President’s Rule so under the powers of the Home Ministry of India and security forces will be put under extreme pressure of not applying any force and help restore peace and normalcy.

The district administration is making necessary arrangements to ensure the safety and security of the students. However, the pictures coming in from the Valley reflect that traffic is running smoothly and there are no “killings” reported from any part of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Even though the Internet and mobile services are still jammed, landline phone services were restored on Saturday in some areas of Kashmir. The government has said that the curbs will be relaxed in a phase-wise manner and will be reviewed on a regular basis.

A day after the low-speed (2G) mobile Internet services were restored and were operational, was once again snapped in five districts of Jammu region on Sunday forenoon to check rumour-mongering. Low-speed mobile Internet services had been restored in five districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after remaining suspended for nearly a fortnight as the State has been under a lockdown since the government’s decision to scrap Article 370 and 35 A, a tool for its special status.

The major flashpoint concern was on the Independence Day which passed peacefully and with no violence. However, security forces continued to remain deployed, while barricades remained on the roads, but people were allowed to move after checking their credentials and still the movement is not free even as the first batch of Haj pilgrims returned to Srinagar from Saudi Arabia on Sunday afternoon. Advisor to the Governor K. Vijay Kumar has expressed that because they have to maintain law and order, as an essential preventive measure they had to reduce the communication channels so that it was not put to misuse. “We are keen that we should open communications channels as soon as possible,” said Kumar.

While all this is happening, politics are being played in a different battlefield and former Haryana Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said at a rally in Rohtak on Sunday that the grand old party has deviated from its path and went on to add that Congress is not the same as it used to be. Hooda also welcomed abrogation of Article 370 saying the nation comes first but with a tailspin and much to the relief of 10, Janpath was that “the way Article 370 was abrogated was not right.”

In the neighbouring country Pakistan, army officers are maintaining that the situation in South Asia and especially after India’s action on Kashmir has led to nuclear flashpoint. The war is on already in social media, particularly on twitter. Pakistan Prime Minister has also taken to twitter by tweeting that already four million Indian Muslims face detention camps and cancellation of citizenship. “World must take note as this genie is out of the bottle and the doctrine of hate and genocide, with RSS goons on the rampage, will spread unless the international community acts now to stop it,” said Imran Khan.

It is not surprising at all to see this pattern as the very basis of Pakistan to ask for financial help from the developed nation was on to curb terrorism. However, India has been telling the world that the same funds were diverted to fuel the fire in Kashmir. India’s point was vindicated soon after the world’s most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden was caught hiding at a stone throw distance from Islamabad.