Separatists call for strike, disrupt normal life in Kashmir Valley

Normal life was disrupted today in Kashmir due to a strike called by separatists in protest against the landing of army in the Valley on this day in 1947.

Shops and other business establishments like petrol pumps and private offices in the summer capital here remained closed while only skeletal transport services were plying on the roads in the city, officials said.

The attendance in government offices and banks was also thin due to non-availability of regular transport facilities, they said. Educational institutions remained shut while Kashmir University postponed exams scheduled for the day.

Reports of shutdown were also received from other district headquarters in the Valley, the officials said.

Separatist groups have called the general strike in protest against the landing of army in Kashmir on October 27, 1947 as it launched an operation to repulse tribal raiders from Pakistan, a day after the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, signed the instrument of accession with the Union of India.

Separatist outfits have been calling a strike on this day every year since the eruption of militancy in the state in 1989.