Complete shutdown in IHK against JKLF ban

SRINAGAR: A complete shutdown is being observed in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) against banning of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) by the Indian government.

According to the Kashmir Media Service, the call for the strike was given by the Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik.

Shops and business establishments are closed in Srinagar and other big and small cities of the valley while the traffic is sparse.

A day earlier, the Indian government banned JKLF led by Muhammad Yasin Malik for “promoting secessionist activities” in IHK.

“The order to ban Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and JKLF is nothing but an act of political vengeance and an oppressive tactic to suppress the just movement of people of the Indian Held Kashmir. The Indian government’s decision to ban the organisations peacefully striving for the resolution of Kashmir dispute, will not cow down the people,” the JRL statement said.

Last month, JKLF leader Malik was arrested and charged under the Public Safety Act (PSA), which stipulated that a person can be jailed for up to two years without bail. Earlier in February, the Indian authorities banned the socio-religious organisation JeI in IHK.