Mirwaiz placed under house arrest in Srinagar

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  • Life affected due to shutdown call; CRPF Camp attacked with stones

All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was placed under house arrest on Friday ahead of a joint protest called by both the Hurriyat and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

Shahidul Islam, media adviser to the Hurriyat leader, said that Mirwaiz was put under house arrest at 6:45am on Friday morning. “He (Mirwaiz) was scheduled to lead a protest march from Jamia Masjid after Friday prayers as per programme of the Kashmiri leadership,” he said.

On the other hand, security forces have been deployed in strength outside the historic mosque where Mirwaiz addresses the Friday gathering to prevent protests. Raids have also been carried out on the residencies of other Hurriyat leaders. Local media reported that a normal life was affected due to a shutdown called by the Kashmiri leadership against the civilian killings.

In Srinagar, shops and commercial establishments remained closed while public transport remained off the roads and some private transport plied in some parts of the summer capital. Local authorities had made heavy deployment of the police and the India’s paramilitary forces to prevent protest rallies. The authorities disallowed congregational Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid in view of call for protests.

“Muezzin Muhammad Yasin was not allowed to offer Azan. All gates of the Jamia Masjid were locked by police and India’s paramilitary forces,” said a spokesman of the Jamia Auqaf Committee. He said that all roads leading to the historic mosque were blocked and that no one was being allowed to enter the mosque. Clashes between protesters were reported from many parts of the valley.

During the clashes between protesters and the government forces, a girl was wounded after she received a rubber bullet in her foot. A police official said that the girl was wounded after a stone hit her. Large contingent of the police and the Indian paramilitary troopers had been deployed across the Srinagar city to ‘maintain peace and order.’

According to the local media, the protesters pelted stones on the Indian Army Goodwill School at Hajin while the government forces used tear-smoke shells to disperse them.

Some local reports said that youth, braving snow and chill, took to streets after the culmination of the congregational Friday prayers and clashed with the forces deployed in the area. The young people attacked CRPF Camp with stones and chanted pro-freedom slogans.