Complete shutdown observed in IHK

ISLAMABAD: Complete shutdown marked by curfew-like restrictions was observed across occupied Kashmir on Tuesday to commemorate the death anniversaries of prominent leaders—Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone.

All shops, other business establishments and educational institutions remained closed while traffic was off the road, the Kashmir Media Service reported. Call for the strike and a march towards martyrs’ graveyard at Eidgah in Srinagar was given by the resistance leadership to pay tributes to the leaders.

The authorities had imposed curfew and other restrictions in Khanyar, Rainawari, Nowhatta, Maharaj Gunj and Safa Kadal areas of the city to prevent the march. Heavy contingents of army, paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force and police were deployed on the occasion.

The authorities placed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest. Kashmiri leader Hilal Ahmad War was also confined to his house in Srinagar, while Mukhtar Ahmad Waza was arrested in Islamabad town of the occupied territory. All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Geelani was already under house arrest.

Mirwaiz Farooq was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his residence in Srinagar on May 21 in 1990. Seventy mourners were killed in Hawal area of the city when Indian troops opened fire on his funeral procession.

On the same day in 2002, Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone was killed by unknown assailants when he was returning from Eidgah after addressing a public gathering.