to close down in the early 1990s though authorities made attempts to reopen some of the theatres in the late 1990s the same was thwarted after terrorists carried out a deadly grenade attack on regal cinema in the heart of lal chowk in september 1999 killing one person on the day the theatre was reopenedtwo other theatres neelam and broadway also opened in highsecurity areas of srinagar but were closed again the cinema halls like firdous sheeraz neelam broadway khayam samad talkies regina shahkar etc were a major source of entertainment in the yesteryearsas the threat perception is waning the modes of entertainment like cinema halls are returningnotably former political regimes did not show the will to revive the nightlife in kashmir politicians who ruled jk till the scrapping of jks socalled special status it seems were happy with kashmir remaining disturbed and the agents of pakistan dictating terms to peoplethe government led by prime minister narendra modi has proven beyond doubt that strong leaders can take bold decisions for the benefit of the masses the centre since 2019 has ensured that the people of jammu and kashmir get every facility which is available to all the citizens across the countrya common man has become a priority in naya jammu and kashmir and the government has done everything for him to become an important stakeholder in peace the peoplecentric decisions of the present dispensation have made jk denizens part and parcel of the development peace and prosperitythe government has focused on eliminating terror and dismantling the terror ecosystem terrorist supporters as of date stand isolated and cornered whereas the peaceloving people have embarked on the journey of developmentduring the past three decades public transport used to disappear from the streets of srinagar soon after dusk this issue was taken up by the people again and again with the former political dispensations but the former rulers cited violence as a reason for public transport not remaining available during the evening hours under public pressure some halfhearted attempts were made in the past but all of them ended up in a fiascoearlier this month divisional commissioner kashmir vijay kumar bidhuri convened a meeting of officers to plan the induction of jk road transport corporation rtc buses for night transport services in srinagar citythese buses have been made available on the major routes of the city with clearcut directions to operate till 10pm at night by inducting its own buses the government has sent a clear message to the private transporters that they can no longer decide whether the night services will run or not it is after 30 years that night bus services have returned to srinagar city and the people have welcomed the movein naya jammu and kashmir youth are free to carry on with their activities till late hours by participating in sports events which are held in every corner of the city tourists have been provided with the option to explore kashmir rather than getting locked in