JRL shutdown affects life in Kashmir

MAJID NABI. Dated: 2/14/2019 11:17:05 AM

Shutdown call for today withdrawn

SRINAGAR, Feb 13: Normal life was crippled in Kashmir including its summer capital today following separatist’s shutdown call against challenging constitutional validity of Article 35-A in Supreme Court of India.
Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) a conglomerate of separatist groups comprising both factions of Hurriyat Conference and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has called for two day shutdown in Kashmir beginning today against legal assault on Article 35-A.
It may be in place to mention that a lesser known NGO backed by RSS has filed a PIL challenging validity of constitutional act in the top court of India.
Shops, business establishments and fuel stations were closed and barring nominal movement of private vehicles and cabs, traffic remained off the roads in Srinagar and elsewhere which severally affected inter districts transport service in the valley.
Attendance in government and semi government offices banks and courts was also recorded thin as the employees could not make it to their workplaces due to non-availability of public transport.
Major market places in Srinagar including city centre Lal Chowk, Jamia Market, Hari Singh High Street, Batmaloo remained closed in response to the separatists shutdown call.
Authorities in order to prevent people from holding protests deployed additional companies of police and paramilitary troopers; however a senior official said that no restriction imposed anywhere.
Police at many places in old city had erected barricades and all the entry and exit points were sealed with razor wire and iron barricades.
Similar reports were received from other parts of the valley including north and south Kashmir where people paying heed to separatists call observed complete shutdown to support article 35-A.
In central Kashmir including Ganderbal and Budgam complete shutdown was observed with all markets closed and traffic off the roads.
Meanwhile, the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) has withdrawn its shutdown call for tomorrow.
In a statement, JRL said that the protest strike call against hearing of Article 35A case in Supreme Court of India tomorrow has been withdrawn. They said that the call was withdrawn after the lawyers conveyed to the leadership that in the cause list issued by the Supreme Court at 7.00 PM today, it is not listed for hearing tomorrow.
"The Kashmir Bar Association led by senior lawyers Mian Qayoom, Zafar Shah, Zaffar Qureshi, Mohammad Ashraf and others are in New Delhi defending the case at the Supreme Court on behalf of the people of disputed J&K. They are in touch with the leadership," the statement said.
JRL said that the senior lawyers of bar will be present at the supreme court for the whole day tomorrow as well and will closely monitor the case and update the leadership about it.
The leadership reiterated that people of Jammu and Kashmir will forcefully resist every challenge by New Delhi to change the demography of the state and warned the authorities that if anything adverse to the interests of the people of J&K and its disputed status is announced through the courts a mass people’s agitation will be started instantly across the state and the responsibility of the consequences of that will be entirely on those "forcing us to react."

 

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