SRINAGAR: A complete shutdown is being observed in occupied Kashmir today to mark the sixth martyrdom anniversary of Kashmiri leader Muhammad Afzal Guru who was hanged Indian authorities in 2013.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the call for the shutdown was given by the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik.
The leadership demands that the remains of Guru and another renowned Kashmiri liberation leader, Muhammad Maqbool Butt be returned from New Delhi’s Tihar Jail for a proper burial. The JRL has also called for a march towards Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Monday on the martyrdom anniversary of Butt.
The Indian authorities have put Gilani, Mirwaiz, Yasin and other leaders under house arrest to prevent them from participating in protests and programmes related to the martyrdom anniversaries.
The authorities have also imposed restrictions in Doabgah, the native area of Guru in the Baramulla district to prevent people from visiting the family members of the martyred leader and expressing solidarity with them. Restrictions have also been imposed in different areas of Srinagar including Mahraj Gunj, Rainawari, Nowhatta, Safa Kadal, Khanyar and Maisuma to prevent protests and rallies.
Guru was hanged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013 while Butt was hanged in the same jail on February 11, 1984. The bodies of the two martyrs remain buried in the jail.
Guru was hanged after a court found him guilty over his alleged role in the 2001 Parliament attack case in New Delhi.