India, Sept. 12 -- Idrees Mir, 13, has been among the toppers at a private school in Srinagar's Khanyar. The class 6 student would regularly play cricket at a nearby playground and finish all his homework without much prodding. There has, however, been a perceptible change in his behaviour over the past month as he has been forced to spend most of his time indoors since August 5 when Kashmir was placed under lockdown.

Each time his siblings, both graduates, ask him to study, he refuses to listen to them. "He gets irritated when we ask him to at least study on his own. Mostly he remains glued to the TV," said his sister, Zubaida, who just completed her Bachelor of Education degree.

Most schools have remained closed even as the government...