Kashmir witnessed a shutdown on Monday over the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) move to summon Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) president Yasin Khan and Kashmir University scholar Aala Fazil to New Delhi for questioning in an “illegal funding case”.
Several supporters of Mr. Khan held a silent sit-in in Lal Chowk against his summoning. The NIA had asked Mr. Khan to asked present himself before the NIA on Monday.
“We would continue our peaceful protest until Yasin sahab leaves the NIA headquarter,” said a protesting trader.
The shutdown call by traders, supported by separatists, impacted the daily life in the Valley. There was a thin traffic on the roads as educational institutions, petrol pumps and banks remained closed.
The authorities placed areas under five police stations in the old city under restrictions. Train service in south Kashmir was also stopped.
Hurriyat faction chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, “The NIA is resorting to coercive and intimidating tactics against people of Kashmir”.
NIA raids continue
Meanwhile, the NIA on Monday continued with its raids in Kashmir Valley.
Police sources said two youth, one from Ganderbal and another from Baramulla, were questioned regarding their involvement in stone pelting.
The NIA has registered a case in May regarding illegal funding from across the border to fuel violence in J&K. Seven separatist leaders are already in the NIA custody.
Court grants bail to Jamaat-e-Islami spokesman
The high court on Monday granted bail to Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) spokesman Zahid Ali Lone.
“Freedom of speech and expression is the soul of our democratic and secular fabric. The might of our great India is not so weak that by using a few nonproductive and ego satisfying slogans the people will be scared even by a grain of fear that their levies will be put at a peril,” said Justice M. K. Hanjura, while granting bail.
Lone’s lawyer Salih Pirzada said his client was arrested on August 4 “for raising slogans.” The police had alleged Mr. Lone’s objecting was “to induce the youth of the adjoining areas to indulge in rioting and join the militant ranks to accomplish the ultimate aim of seceding Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India”.
