The strike called by the two groups of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference brought in a complete shutdown and undeclared curfew in the Valley on Monday, a day after violence left one person dead and over a dozen people injured in police firing Srinagar.
After remaining shut for 100 days, schools in Kashmir Valley reopened on Monday, with students and teachers given a free passage by security forces despite curfew and restrictions in many parts. However, attendance was thin against the backdrop of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's call to parents not to send their wards to schools and colleges. The education system in the valley had become a collateral damage in the ongoing unrest.
LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan on Thursday said he favoured autonomy for Kashmir and withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the region.
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, had an exclusive chat with the readers of rediff.com on Wednesday, September 22, where he spoke about the rationale behind the separatists' renewed war cry for azaadi.
Curfew remained in force in Kashmir Valley for the 11th day on Wednesday even as the death toll in the ongoing agitation rose to 104 after a youth succumbed to his injuries in a hospital in Srinagar.
Kashmir remained the biggest hurdle in relations between India and Pakistan and it should top the agenda of any talks between the two countries, moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said on Friday.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Tuesday said the all-party meet in New Delhi is unlikely to help improve the situation in the Kashmir Valley as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech did not touch on the core issue of Kashmir.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have registered a case against Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, over burning of government properties by a mob during a protest rally in Srinagar, official sources said. An FIR was registered against the Mirwaiz at Shergarhi police station in Srinagar city under sections 121, 121-A, 153, 153-A, 336 and 446 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), the sources said.
"Kashmir is an issue concerning the people living in five regions -- three under Indian control and two under Pakistani control. The state should be united as it existed on August 14, 1947 and its people decide the future," Mirwaiz said addressing the congregation at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.
It is the holy month of Ramadan and in normal course, the bazaars should have been chock-a-block full with shoppers. Instead, there are security forces patrolling the streets trying to save themselves from arsonists and ensuring that the curfew is not disrupted.
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