Jammu Kashmir shut down over Bukhari’s murder; life at a standstill

On the eve of Eid, senior journalist of Rising Kashmir Shujaat Bukhari was shot dead, along with his 2 security guards by 3 men on a motorbike.

And today, the state of Jammu Kashmir is under a shut down under the guidance of the separatists.

Jammu and Kashmir police arrested Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik to foil a protest march in Srinagar on Thursday when separatists had called for a general strike in protest against the killing of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari by gunmen and civilians in security force action.

Official sources said that a police party arrested Malik from his Maisuma residence early this morning after Fajr prayers.

He has been lodged in police station Kothibagh, sources said.

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A spokesman for the front said Malik was to lead a protest march in the civil lines today when Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Malik had called for a protest shutdown against the civilian killings and assassination of Bukhari.

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.

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an amalgamation of separatist groups, said in a statement that there had been a sudden spike in civilian killings since the eve of Eid. It also demanded an international probe into Bukhari’s killing.

“Joint Resistance Leadership has called for a complete strike against the continued civilian killings in the valley, which has witnessed a sudden spike since the eve of Eid… three young boys have been brutally gunned down by the Indian forces while the fourth is struggling for life at SKIMS (Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences),” the statement said.