SRINAGAR: Authorities Tuesday foiled the Eidgah March of the Hurriyat Conference (M), held annually to commemorate the death anniversaries of Mirwaiz Molvi Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone. Meanwhile a shutdown was observed in the Valley on the call of the amalgam.
Amid restrictions, stone pelting incidents were reported from Rajourikadal and Gojwara areas. However no one was injured in these clashes and the day generally passed off peacefully.
Authorities imposed restrictions in some sensitive parts of the old Srinagar and deployed contingents of police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to thwart any march or protest demonstration.
Shops, business establishments, schools remained closed; banks and government offices witnessed thin attendance while public transport was off the roads in most parts of the valley.
A senior police official in Srinagar said that Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and some other leaders of the conglomerate were placed under house arrest. He said restrictions were imposed in Safa Kadal, MR Gunj, Khanyar, Rainawari, Nowhatta, Nigeen, Soura, Lal Bazar and Kralkhud police station areas to maintain law and order.
In old Srinagar, police and CRPF were deployed around these areas. However, a senior police officer said that, We just deployed contingent of police and para-military personnel in and around Eidgah cemetery (where the two leaders are buried) while rest of the city was free of deployment, he said.
Few youth resorted to stone-pelting at Rajouri Kadal and Gojwara which were dispersed by police peacefully, he said.
A police officer on the condition of anonymity said that few youth were picked up by police in some parts of the old city, however they were released during morning.
Businesses remained shut in Baramulla, Kupwara, Sopore, Handwara and Bandipore towns of north Kashmir due to the strike. But thin public transport plied on inter-district roads in north Kashmir. Anantnag-Islamabad town of south Kashmir wore a deserted look. Shops, schools and business institutions remained closed. Thin traffic was witnessed on roads. Strike was also observed in Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian districts of south Kashmir.
Authorities had placed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest on Saturday. The Srinagar district magistrate and senior superintendent of police called on Mirwaiz on Monday evening to persuade him not to hold the rally as prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code were in force in the city.
Besides Mirwaiz, senior Hurriyat (M) leaders Maulana Abbas Ansari and Aga Syed Hassan were also placed under house arrest.
Meanwhile, police said that no restrictions had been put in place. A tent was erected at Mirwaiz Manzil which was removed by the police, a police official said.
Hurriyat sources said that this was the third consecutive year when Hurriyat (M) has been denied permission to organize any gathering to commemorate the death anniversary of late Mirwaiz and Lone.
Pertinently it was on 21 May 1990 when suspected militants killed Mirwaiz Farooq at his residence in Srinagar. More than 60 mourners were martyred in Hawal area of the city when security forces opened fire upon his funeral procession. On the same day, in 2002, Abdul Ghani Lone was assassinated by unknown gunman at the Eidgah rally held in memory of Mirwaiz Farooq.
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