Restrictions in parts of Kupwara, Srinagar on Maqbool Bhat's anniversary

Srinagar: Authorities today imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar and Kupwara districts following a strike called by separatists on the death anniversary of JKLF founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged inside Delhi’s Tihar Jail on this day in 1984.

Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC were imposed in seven police station areas of Srinagar and also in Trehgam area of Kupwara in north Kashmir, a police official said. He said the seven police station areas of the city were Khanyar, Kralkhud, Maharajgunj, Maisuma, Nowhata, Rainawari and Safakadal.

The curbs were imposed as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order, the official said. Separatists Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), had asked people to observe a strike today on Bhat’s death anniversary.

They also asked the people to march to the office of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) at Sonwar here. “A complete shutdown will be observed on February 11. Besides this protest shutdown, Kashmiris will march to the UN Observers’ office at Sonwar Srinagar and present a memorandum …demanding the return of mortal remains of Shaheed Mohammad Maqbool Bhat and Shaheed Mohammad Afzal Guru,” a statement by the JRL had said.

While Bhat was hanged inside the Tihar Jail on February 11, 1984, Guru, the Parliament attack convict, was hanged inside the same jail on February 9, 2013. Meanwhile, normal life was affected elsewhere in Kashmir valley due to the strike. Shops, private offices, fuel stations and other business establishments were shut across the valley, while public transport was off the roads in most areas, the official said.

He, however, said few private cars, cabs and auto- rickshaws were seen plying in areas where there were no restrictions.