On the eve of the all-party delegation’s visit, the authorities in Srinagar had a daunting task at hand: removing provocative slogans, flags and anti-India graffiti from the streets. Sources said employees of the Roads and Buildings Department and the police were issued paint drums on Friday night to screen all prominent provocative slogans written boldly on street walls.
Slogans such as “Go India, Go Back” and “Burhan Wani, Our Hero” dotted Indira Gandhi Airport Road up to Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre, which is the venue of the delegates visiting the Kashmir Valley under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday to asses the situation.
Many sketches of the slain commander have been drawn on the walls and shop shutters.
Most of these slogans were smudged and disfigured by the police and other departments.
The stretches leading to the Valley’s top hospitals were also being cleared of bold anti-India slogans, flags and graffiti.
In the wake of separatists’ call to ‘occupy’ the airport stretch connecting it with the city, security has been beefed up in Srinagar.
Residents living on the stretch complained that security forces keep chasing away locals in a bid to ensure smooth movement of delegates on Sunday.
The stretch of the Srinagar airport road and the city centre also houses the residence of Hurriyat faction chairman Syed Ali Geelani near Hyderpora. Many of his supporters keep engaging security forces in pitched stones battles for the past 57 days now, and remained highly volatile. Extra security deployment has been made there too to avoid confrontation with the visiting Parliamentarians.
