Shutdown in Kashmir valley

The Kashmir valley witnessed a complete shutdown on Wednesday following a strike call given by separatists. Shutters of all shops and business houses remained down as traffic too remained off roads.

In a statement, the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) protested against the rights of the Kashmiri people being "trampled". The statement said: "New Delhi is muzzling the voices of freedom in Kashmir and people, especially the youth, are being selectively killed every alternate day."

The JRL warned that on the day of the Independence Day celebrations, the resistance leadership would either be caged or placed in various jails "to crush the dissent, and the entire Valley will turn into a military fortress for the day and people's right to live too will be snatched."

Meanwhile, a large number of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed at major intersections to prevent any incident during the celebrations. Security personnel are guarding barricades at the entry and exit points of Srinagar city, and mobile services and mobile internet services have snapped in the valley.