The authorities imposed curfew-like restrictions in Srinagar city and major towns of Kashmir Valley in response to separatists’ call for protests and shutdown on the first anniversary of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Pro-independence leader Yasin Malik and his colleagues were taken into custody when they attempted to hold a demonstration wearing black headgears and bands.
Most of the separatist leaders have been taken into preventive custody or barred from coming out of their houses in view of their three-day shutdown call that began on Sunday.
Guru was secretly hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail on February 9 last year, two days before the anniversary of another Kashmiri separatist Maqbool Bhat hanged in the same jail in 1984. The separatists called for protests to commemorate the deaths and demand for the mortal remains of the duo buried in premises of Tihar jail. Secessionist leaders Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khan were held three days back while Syed Ali Geelani was put under house-arrest soon after he landed in Srinagar from New Delhi on Saturday afternoon.
Police and paramilitaries were fanned out in Srinagar and other sensitive towns to restrict people’s movement and ensure incident-free day.The authorities snapped internet services on the mobile phones and dongle devices from the midnight but they were partially resumed late on Sunday evening. The internet services continued on fixed lines, which have restricted and accountable subscribers.
The authorities say that the internet services are controlled on sensitive occasions to check proliferation of rumours. The Short Messaging Services (SMS) on pre-paid cellphones have been snapped in the embattled State since 2010.
Even as the authorities refrained from announcing curfew in the capital city, the restrictions were too harsh to force the residents to stay indoors. Most of the entry points to the city were blocked with barbed wire and cops disallowed civilian movement. Sources said that the restrictions were likely to continue for two more days. The Kashmir University authorities postponed all examinations scheduled on Monday.
A police spokesman said that the situation remained normal throughout the Valley. “Some minor stone-pelting incidents have been reported from Naidkhai Sumbal, Papchan, Main Chowk Bandipora, Mirgund Kangan and Hadipora Sopore. There are no reports of any injury to anybody so far,” a spokesman of police said.