A shutdown against the issuance of Dogra certificate to the residents of Jammu called by the hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani affected normal life in capital Srinagar and other towns for the third day running on Monday.
Moderate Hurriyat leaders Abdul Gani Bhat and Lone brothers -- Sajjad and Bilal, who have been critical of terrorists recently, stayed away from Pakistan National Day celebrations where People's Democratic Party leader Maulvi Ifthikhar Hussain Ansari was a surprise guest. Both moderate and hard-line factions of the Hurriyat Conference were represented by their chairmen Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani respectively at the Pakistan Day celebrations.
A separatist sponsored shutdown affected normal life in Srinagar and other towns Saturday.
Curfew was on Saturday lifted from Kashmir Valley, a week after it was imposed following hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru. "Curfew has been lifted from all the ten districts in the Valley," a police spokesman said.
About half a dozen senior leaders of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference were on Monday put under house arrest to prevent them from participating in the scheduled demonstrations against the transfer of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. However, police raided the Hyderpora residence of chairman of the breakaway HC Syed Ali Shah Geelani several times, who had already left for some undisclosed place.
She also hit out at the Centre alleging that while the Government of India was expressing concern for the rights of people in Afghanistan, the same were denied to Kashmiris.
Normal life was disrupted in Kashmir Valley on Thursday due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani to protest killings in Gaza and to mourn the death of seven persons in an accident involving an army vehicle.
Normal life was affected in Srinagar and others parts of the Valley by a protest shutdown on Monday, which was called by separatist leaders to protest a recent ruling by the Jammu and Kashmir high court -- that life imprisonment meant incarceration for the remainder of the convict's life, not only the period of 14 years that is usually observed in the rest of India.
A majority of the residents chose to stay indoors due to heavy deployment of security forces for the Republic Day and very few vehicles, barring those of security forces and VIPS, were seen on the roads.
A shutdown called by hardline separatist Hurriyat Conference to protest against the Jammu and Kashmir government's decision to shift prison inmates from the Valley to outside jails affected normal life in Srinagar on Tuesday.
Kashmiri separatist groups have welcomed United States President Barack Obama's statement that Jammu and Kashmir was 'a longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan which the two neighbours must resolve'.
The first all-girl band of Kashmir on Monday decided to call it quits in the wake of a fatwa issued by Grand Mufti terming singing as un-islamic, a remark that came under all round attack.
Schools, shops, business establishments, private offices and banks remained closed in most pasts of the Valley due to the strike, officials said.
As curfew and severe restrictions continue to hinder public movement in Kashmir, internet has emerged as the new choice of communication with separatist and militant leaders who are using the medium for spreading their message.
Ahead of Indo-Pak foreign ministers meet in New Delhi on Wednesday, Pakistan Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday met both the Hurriyat Conference factions during which the separatists sought Islamabad's intervention for release of Ghulam Nabi Fai arrested in US for being a front of Inter Services Intelligence.
Apprehending law and order problem in Anantnag where a youth was allegedly killed in firing by security forces on August 30, curfew remained in force in the town, official sources said.
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir imposed curfew in most parts of the Valley on Saturday, following which, all the shops closed down and streets were left deserted.
An indefinite curfew was imposed in Srinagar and other towns on Thursday evening to scuttle Friday's proposed separatist march to Eidgah grounds in the city.
Life across Kashmir valley was badly affected on Friday by a protest shutdown called by hard-line separatist leader and All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani.The strike had been called to protest against the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.Although authorities didn't impose any restrictions in the old city, security across Srinagar has been beefed up to maintain law and order.
The stone-pelting was sponsored by the Syed Ali Shah Geelani faction to create law and order problem in Sopore, Abdul Latief Lone, detained under the Public Safety Act, told police, according to DIG (North Kashmir) Munir Khan.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah said that his government intended to hold the deferred Panchayat elections in the state on non-party basis.
Booker Prize winning author Arundhati Roy recently received a tremendous amount of criticism for her speech at the Azadi -- The Only Way seminar in New Delhi, where she shared the stage with Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani. In a strongly worded statement, Roy clarifies her stance on the issue.
Hinting at continuing protests in Kashmir till the visit of United States President Barack Obama to India in November, Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Sunday accused the Centre of trying to suppress the 'movement' in the Valley ahead of the US President's arrival.
Kashmir Valley has been in grip of violent protests since June 11 when a 17-year-old boy was killed after he was hit by a tear smoke shell during clashes at Rajouri Kadal in interior city.
The all-party delegation led by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will on Tuesday visit Tangmarg, which witnessed incidents of arson recently, hospitals in Srinagar to meet those injured during clashes, and the Hazratbal shrine.
On a mission to understand the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the all party delegation on Monday began its two-day exercise with Home Minister P Chidambaram promising the people of the state that their future, honour and dignity are secure as part of India.
Hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani dropped plans to stage protest marches to army and other security forces camps here on September 21.
Police blamed activists of hard line faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Muslim league headed by underground separatist leader Masrat Alam Bhat for carrying out the incidents of arson as part of a pre-planned conspiracy to disrupt Eid celebrations.
Separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday rejected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement alleging them of stepping up violence with the help of elements from across the border."Kashmiris are struggling peacefully for their birthright but India uses its military power to suppress the peaceful and justified struggle," chairman of hard-line faction of Hurriyat Syed Ali Shah Geelani said.
Hardline separatist leader Asiya Andrabi was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police on Saturday.Andrabi is a trusted lieutenant of separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. She and fellow separatist leader Masarat Alam have been spearheading the protests in Srinagar.Andrabi, who had been underground for some time, was one of the most wanted leaders in the Valley.Kashmir has witnessed a vicious cycle of protests and civilian deaths in firing by security forces.
The separatist leaders were told that "restrictions have been imposed on their movement in the national capital" ahead a possible talks between NSA Sartaj Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.
Markets, banks, semi-government institutions were closed and transport remained off the roads in Srinagar and other major towns in the state in response to the call given by hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference to protest against booking of its chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani under Public Safety Act (PSA) and continued detention of other separatist leaders.
The state police on Friday arrested one of the two activists of the hardline Hurriyat Conference who were allegedly involved in a conspiracy to engineer violence in Kashmir valley by planning the killing of 10 to 15 people during a procession. The police swooped down at a place on Narbal-Magam Road and arrested Shabir Ahmed Wani, district president of the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
The case relates to alleged terror funding in 2017 in the valley and involves Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind based in Pakistan.
'These statements which you are telling me were never uttered from mosques on that day.' 'And if this had happened, I would have got the report as the chief secretary of J&K.'
Separatist groups in Kashmir on Thursday reacted angrily to the death sentence awarded to two locals, who were held guilty by a Delhi court in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar bomb blast case, in which 13 persons were killed.The moderate and hard-line groups of the separatist conglomerate All Parties Hurriyat Conference, headed by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani respectively, have called for a protest shutdown on Friday against the death sentence.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Omar Abdullah has said his government would not curtail the two-month-long annual Amarnath yatra scheduled to begin in June this year.Hard-line separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani has sought curtailment of the yatra period for what he called 'the preservation of ecology in the Kashmir Himalayas'.
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