SRINAGAR: A complete shutdown was observed in Indian occupied Kashmir on Tuesday against the ill-treatment being meted out to the ailing and incarcerated Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Yasin Malik by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) in New Delhi.
According to Kashmir Media Service, call for the protest strike was given by the Joint Resistance Leadership. The strike was also being observed against India’s ongoing aggression against Kashmiri resistance leaders, activists, senior businessmen, trade union leaders and relatives of resistance leaders by NIA and Enforcement Directorate. All shops are closed while traffic remained off the roads in all major cities and towns of the Valley.
Meanwhile, as announcements were made on loudspeakers of the mosques about deteriorating health condition of Muhammad Yasin Malik, people in Maisuma area took to the streets and staged anti-India protests. Shopkeepers kept their shutters down as a mark of the protest.
On the other hand, voting began, amidst a complete shutdown, Tuesday on a dull note in Islamabad district for India’s Lok Sabha constituency. Residents in most parts of the district in South Kashmir have stayed indoors so far, an official said adding that polling would be held in three phases. Voting in Kulgam district will be held on April 29 while Pulwama and Shopian districts will go to polls on May 6.
The Joint Resistance Leadership has called for a boycott of the polling and asked people to observe a complete shutdown.