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Latest National News : Kashmir downs shutters on strike
A strike call by a faction of the separatist Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday affected normal life in Kashmir as shops and business establishments remained shut and traffic remained thin.
The shutdown was called in protest against the “continued detention” of separatist workers and the Government’s attempt to shift many of them to jails outside Jammu & Kashmir.
The frequency of separatist-sponsored shutdowns has gone down since 2010 summer but occasionally, they renew the calls to highlight alleged human rights violations. Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, currently in Delhi due to harsh winter, had called for the strike. He said that the shifting of detained Kashmiris to outer jails was in contravention to the Supreme Court’s ruling to lodge detainees in jails nearest to their homes.
An official said that the situation remained peaceful throughout the Valley.
A spokesman of Geelani’s faction said authorities wanted to inflict mental torture on political detainees. Most detained under the Public Safety Act have been rounded up for involvement in managing and perpetrating anti-India protests during the summer unrest of 2010.
Authorities say most of the arrested were released except those involved in arson and damaging public properties, besides carrying out anti-national activities are serving jail terms under the Public Safety Act, a 1978 legislation that permits detention without trial for two years. Amnesty International has described the Act as “lawless law”.
Geelani said shifting Kashmiri prisoners to jails outside Jammu & Kashmir was against the apex court ruling. Relatives of some detained youngsters have stayed their shifting after moving applications in the State high court.
Meanwhile, reports said Geelani’s faction of Hurriyat has handed over cases related to Public Safety Act to Kashmir Committee, headed by former Union Law Minister and senior BJP leader Ram Jethmalani.
Geelani is in close contact with Jethmalani and the latter is reportedly coaxing him to enter into a dialogue.
Sources said Kashmir Committee lawyers will file petitions challenging detention of separatist leaders and workers in the Supreme Court from first week of March.
A strike call by a faction of the separatist Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday affected normal life in Kashmir as shops and business establishments remained shut and traffic remained thin.
The shutdown was called in protest against the “continued detention” of separatist workers and the Government’s attempt to shift many of them to jails outside Jammu & Kashmir.
The frequency of separatist-sponsored shutdowns has gone down since 2010 summer but occasionally, they renew the calls to highlight alleged human rights violations. Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, currently in Delhi due to harsh winter, had called for the strike. He said that the shifting of detained Kashmiris to outer jails was in contravention to the Supreme Court’s ruling to lodge detainees in jails nearest to their homes.
An official said that the situation remained peaceful throughout the Valley.
A spokesman of Geelani’s faction said authorities wanted to inflict mental torture on political detainees. Most detained under the Public Safety Act have been rounded up for involvement in managing and perpetrating anti-India protests during the summer unrest of 2010.
Authorities say most of the arrested were released except those involved in arson and damaging public properties, besides carrying out anti-national activities are serving jail terms under the Public Safety Act, a 1978 legislation that permits detention without trial for two years. Amnesty International has described the Act as “lawless law”.
Geelani said shifting Kashmiri prisoners to jails outside Jammu & Kashmir was against the apex court ruling. Relatives of some detained youngsters have stayed their shifting after moving applications in the State high court.
Meanwhile, reports said Geelani’s faction of Hurriyat has handed over cases related to Public Safety Act to Kashmir Committee, headed by former Union Law Minister and senior BJP leader Ram Jethmalani.
Geelani is in close contact with Jethmalani and the latter is reportedly coaxing him to enter into a dialogue.
Sources said Kashmir Committee lawyers will file petitions challenging detention of separatist leaders and workers in the Supreme Court from first week of March.
