Normal life came to a grinding halt in Kashmir Valley on Monday on the third death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Muhammad Afzal Guru. The separatists had called for shutdown that prompted authorities to impose curfew-like restrictions in several volatile localities of summer capital Srinagar.
Guru was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in the morning of February 9, 2013 secretly after the President of India rejected his mercy petition. He was secretly buried within the jail premises and along with his personal belongings as also the mortal remains were not returned to his relatives, a demand they pursue since his death. Guru was put to gallows two days ahead of the anniversary of another Kashmiri separatist Muhammad Maqbool Bhat who was executed in the same manner in Tihar jail on February 11, 1984.
The separatists have called for a shutdown on both anniversaries. The authorities on Monday put most of the separatist leaders and activists under house arrest and many of them were detained in local police stations.
Stringent restrictions paralysed normal life in Old Srinagar City where security personnel deployed in strength curbed public movement to prevent flare-up. Curfew like restriction was imposed in parts of Sopore to thwart any possible protests. “A peaceful protest was also held at Sopore, Guru’s native place, by his family members and other people residing in the area. They were demanding return of the mortal remains of Afzal Guru,” sources said.
Police arrested Jammu & Kashmir liberation Front (JKlF) chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik from Abi Guzar area of Srinagar and later remanded him to seven-day judicial custody.
Police foiled separatists’ march to United Nations Military Observer’s Group in India and Pakistan office and detained scores of them outside Press Enclave. Shouting pro-azaadi slogans, the activists staged demonstrations against Guru’s hanging and demanded return of his mortal remain for a “heroic burial in Kashmir”.
Incidents of stone pelting were reported from Habbakadal in Srinagar and several places in Anantnag and Budgam district.