Separatist shutdown hits life in Kashmir Valley

A shutdown called by separatists affected life across the Kashmir Valley on Thursday.

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), a grouping of separatists headed by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, called for the shutdown against the killing of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari and continuing killings of civilians in Kashmir.

Shujaat was killed along with two of his security guards in Press Enclave in Srinagar on June 14.

Shops, public transport, other businesses and educational institutions remained shut at most places while attendance in banks, post offices and government offices was thin due to non-availability of public transport.

Private transport and some three wheelers, however, moved in uptown areas of Srinagar.

Reports from other cities and towns in the Valley also indicate that the shutdown derailed normal life there too.

Rail services have been suspended as a precaution.

--IANS

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