Restrictions imposed in parts of Srinagar

Authorities today imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar ahead of a rally by Hurriyat Conference.
Restrictions were imposed in seven police station areas of the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order ahead of the rally at Eidgah in old city, officials said.
They said restrictions were imposed in Khanyar, Safakadal, Maharaj Gunj, Nowhatta, Rainawari, Maisuma and Nigeen areas.
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was placed under house arrest yesterday ahead of the rally to commemorate the death anniversary of his father Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq and another Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone.

Farooq was shot dead by militants on May 21, 1990 and Lone fell to the bullets of ultras during a commemoration rally for the former on the same day in 2002.
A Hurriyat spokesperson said a large contingent of police was placed outside Mirwaiz's residence in Nigeen and he was "not allowed" to move outside.

"Other Hurriyat leaders like Shahid-ul-Islam, Javaid Mir and Mukhtar Waza have also been placed under house arrest," the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, normal life in the Valley was affected due to a strike call given by the Hurriyat.
Most of the shops, business establishments and petrol pumps were shut in Srinagar, while public transport was off the roads, the officials said.

Reports of shutdown were also received from other districts of the Valley, they said.
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Meanwhile, Mirwaiz condemned the curbs calling them "undemocratic and dictatorial steps" by the government.
"By continuous use of force and violence, neither could the people be stopped from carrying forward their struggle based on just rights, nor the crackdown on the resistance leadership and people would pave the way for implementing the agenda of RSS in Jammu and Kashmir," he said in a statement.
The moderate Hurriyat's chairman said the amalgam would oppose any steps that are taken against the interests of the people.

He asked the Centre to "read the writing on the wall", saying "they should realise that Kashmir issue is a living reality and dreaming of a peaceful and prosperous South Asia without resolving this issue was preposterous".