Strike, Security Lockdown Cripple Kashmir

SRINAGAR: A security lockdown and general strike crippled life in held Kashmir on Thursday, on the anniversary of the execution of a prominent Muslim leader.

The day-long strike was sponsored by Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in memory of founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged in a New Delhi jail on February 11, 1984 for the murder of an intelligence officer. Bhat’s family and supporters say the charges were trumped up.

JKLF urged residents of the Muslim-majority state to hold pro-independence demonstrations on Thursday to commemorate Bhat and press New Delhi to return his remains. Bhat was buried in New Delhi’s Tihar jail.

Indian authorities sealed off neighbourhoods in most parts of Srinagar and deployed thousands of police and paramilitary to prevent protests.