The authorities placed Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest on Monday, the 28th death anniversary of his father Moulana Muhammad Farooq, as Kashmir valley witnessed a shutdown.
The Mirwaiz’s father was assassinated on May 21, 1990 by gunmen in Srinagar.
A large part of Srinagar’s old city, especially Jamia Masjid and the graveyard at Eidgah, were sealed by the security forces. The Hurriyat had called for a public rally on the occasion.
However, the Mirwaiz was placed under house arrest. Other senior separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani and JKLF chief Yasin Malik, were also detained.
“The stringent curbs imposed in entire downtown to foil the Eidgah rally tells about the ruling regime's fear of peoples power. The ruling regime doesn’t have the courage to meet us on political turf," said a spokesman of the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), a joint form of separatists.
The separatists shutdown call impacted the normal life. Most educational institutes, markets and shops remained closed on the occasion.
