The normal life went out of gear in Kashmir Valley on Sunday on first day of three-day shutdown called by the separatists to protest against the killing of seven civilians near an encounter site in south Kashmir where three terrorists and a soldier got killed on Saturday morning. The Army appealed to the people not to pay heed to the separatists’ call to march towards the headquarters of the XV Corps in Srinagar on Monday while as Governor Satya Pal Malik appealed to the people to keep a distance from areas where anti-militancy operations were in progress.
Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in strength in sensitive parts of Kashmir to prevent assemblage of people or anti-government protests against the spree of killings in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. At least seven civilians were killed with firearms on Saturday afternoon after crowds of people staged protests and attempted to march towards the encounter site in Sirnoo village of Pulwama. Three Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists including a former army soldier Zahoor Ahmad Thokar, who had deserted the armed forces last year to join terrorist ranks had been killed in the encounter.
An Indian army soldier, 29-year-old Sowar Kishan Singh, was also killed in the encounter. A native of Bhinchri village of Ratangarh Tehsil in Churu, Rajasthan, had sustained gruesome injuries in the encounter and later succumbed at 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar.
The separatist leadership in Kashmir—Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik called for three-day shutdown against the killings and asked people to march towards XV Corps headquarters on Monday. The army has foiled such attempts in the past.
Shops, business establishments and fuel stations remained closed while public transport was generally off the roads in summer capital Srinagar. The traffic movement was very low on Srinagar-Jammu National highway and most of the inter-district routes. Restrictions under Section 144 were imposed in district Pulwama.
The train services across Kashmir remained suspended for the second consecutive day for security reasons. The mobile internet services in Srinagar, Pulwama and Shopian districts were suspended as a precautionary measure.
Sources sad that many civilians wounded in the indiscriminate firing were battling for life in various hospitals in Srinagar.
Reports of shutdown have been received from Chenab Valley’s Banihal, Khari, Bhadarwah, Doda, Thathri, Gandoh and Kishtwar areas against Pulwama civilian killings.
Reports said thousands of people participated in the funerals of slain terrorists and civilians in Pulwama district.
Former legislator Sheikh Abdur Rashid was briefly taken into custody when he attempted to march towards the office of United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to present a memorandum seeking the international body’s intervention in stopping killings in Kashmir. Activists of National Conference also staged a protest march.
Meanwhile, Governor Satya Pal Malik while expressing grief over the loss of civilian lives has directed Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir to inquire into the Pulwama incident. He appealed to the people not to go near such areas during or immediately after anti-terrorist operations.