Jammu and Kashmir hit by general strike to mark Afzal Guru’s death anniversary

The JKLF on Thursday called for strikes on February 9 and 11 to observe the anniversary of the death of Afzal Guru, and that of its founder Maqbool Bhat. Shops and businesses were shut on Sunday, while there was little traffic on the roads in Srinagar and other parts of Indian-held Kashmir.

Indian troops have erected iron barricades and laid concertina wire in parts of the region to block roads, with armed soldiers in full riot gear patrolling the streets to prevent any protests, a government official said. He said low speed mobile internet, which was restored last month, had also been shut down as a precautionary measure.

Last month, the Supreme Court rebuked the government for shutting down the internet and telecommunications in Jammu and Kashmir, which was India’s only Muslim-majority state before it was split into two federally administered territories. The police, meanwhile, have launched legal proceedings against JKLF for calling the strikes.

The JKLF was banned by India last year as part of a massive clampdown in Kashmir after an attack on Feb. 14 in which 40 Indian troops were killed. Its offices were closed and main leaders, including its chairman Yasin Malik, were detained.

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Militants on Sunday shot dead a civilian in Tral area of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Ghulam Nabi Mir (55), a contractor by profession, was shot at outside his house around 7.30 pm. Mir was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, they said. No militant outfit has so far claimed the responsibility for the killing.