‘Eidgah Chalo’ march foiled
Restrictions, shutdown affects normal life in Kashmir
Srinagar: Restrictions were Tuesday imposed in parts of the summer capital in view of the separatists’ plan to hold a march to Eidgah martyrs graveyard for paying tributes to slain Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone.
The district administration imposed restrictions in Khanyar, Rainawari, Nowhatta, Maharajgunj and Safa Kadal police station areas of the old city, officials said.
Curfew-like restrictions were put in place in Old City areas of Srinagar to foil Eidgah ‘chalo’, called by pro-freedom leadership to commemorate the death anniversary of two slain leaders—Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone.
Mirwaiz Farooq, father of Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was shot dead by gunmen inside his home on this day in 1990 while Abdul Gani Lone was killed during a commemoration function of late Mirwaiz at Martyrs’ graveyard Eidgah in 2002.
Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) had called for a shutdown on Tuesday and had appealed people to march towards Eidgah to commemorate the anniversaries of the two leaders.
Eyewitnesses said that the forces deployed on roads had erected concertina wires, which halted pedestrians as well as vehicular movement.
They added that the roads leading to Eidgah were also sealed by the authorities.
Meanwhile, witnesses said that security force personnel were deployed in large numbers at vulnerable places in the city and elsewhere in the valley for maintaining law and order.
Besides, authorities placed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest.
Elsewhere, normal life was affected across the valley due to the strike called by the separatists.
Business establishments, schools, colleges and other educational institutions remained closed while public transport was off the roads in most parts of the valley. (with PTI inputs)
KV News
