Kashmir observes shutdown against LS polls ,normal life comes to standstill

Srinagar: Kashmir Valley is observing a shutdown in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on the call given by Joint Resistance Leadership on Thursday. Reports said that shops and business establishments are closed at most places in the Valley while traffic, particularly public transport is off the roads. Schools and other educational institutes are also closed in the Valley. The Joint Resistance leadership (JRL) comprising of Hurriyat Conference (G) led by Syed Ali shah Geelani, Hurriyat Conference (M) headed by Mirwaiz Muhammad Umer Farooq and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin MAlik has called for a complete shutdown on Thursday. “The complete shutdown (Hartal) is against the so-called Indian parliamentary elections, against NIA aggression which includes the shifting of JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik to Tihar jail Delhi under the pretext of questioning by NIA, rigorous questioning of Mirwaiz Muhammad Umar Farooq at NIA headquarters in New Delhi, sustained interrogation and repeated summoning of two Sons of senior veteran leader Syed Ali shah Geelani namely Naeem-uz-Zafar Geelani and Naseem Geelani to Delhi by NIA, closure of Kashmir’s main highway for civilians for two days in a week and recent attack by police and government forces on inmates at central jail Srinagar in which many inmates sustained bullet and pellet injuries and many have been shifted to unknown jails and interrogation centers,” reads a statement issued here by the JRL.

JRL  in a statement has appealed people to stay away from upcoming Indian parliamentary polls and observe  a complete shutdown across the  valley .