Normal life was affected in Kashmir Valley on Saturday as separatists’ called a shutdown to protest against the detention of secessionist leader Masarat Alam Bhat, who was sent to Kot Balwal jail in Jammu after the authorities slapped the Public Safety Act (PSA) on him earlier this week. Amid the shutdown, a local court in the central town of Budgam rejected Alam’s bail paving the way for his prolonged detention.
Shops and business establishments and educational institutions remained closed in several parts of capital Srinagar though banks and Government offices worked normally and traffic was largely unaffected by the strike call given by a faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani. The shutdown was sponsored to protest against slapping PSA on Bhat who was taken into custody by police on April 17, two days after he participated in a rally where anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans were shouted and Pakistani flags hoisted. The authorities had put several separatist leaders including Geelani under house-arrest.The authorities lodged a sedition case against Bhat whose release on March 7 had raised many an eyebrow in Jammu and New Delhi.