Separatist shutdown hits life in Kashmir

A shutdown called by separatists on Saturday affected life in the Kashmir Valley, but police said no untoward incident took place anywhere.

Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani had called for the shutdown against the arrest of another separatist Masrat Alam under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

Shops and other businesses remained closed while there was no public transport in Srinagar and other major towns of the Kashmir Valley.

Though government offices, banks and post offices functioned normally, attendance was thin due to non-availability of public transport.

Traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway and to places of tourist attraction in the Kashmir Valley moved normally despite the shutdown.

Security forces in riot gear were deployed in large numbers in sensitive places.

A police officer, however, said no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

Separatist leader Masrat Alam was released on March 7 by the Mufti Muhammad Sayeed government from a jail in Baramulla district.

He was again booked under the PSA and lodged in the Kotbalwal jail in Jammu earlier this week after he led a separatist rally in Srinagar.

Alam has been booked for sedition and on charges of waging war against the country.

Youths at the rally waved Pakistani flags and shouted pro-Pakistan slogans. The rally was organised to welcome Geelani on his return home after spending the winter in Delhi because of health grounds.