The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), the alliance of top-ranked separatist leaders of Kashmir, has called for a complete shutdown in the Kashmir Valley on Saturday to mark the sixth death anniversary of the Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru, which has paralysed life across the region.
Afzal Guru was executed on February 9, 2013, at Delhi’s Tihar Jail and his body was buried within the jail premises.
The JRL, which is headed by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, and Muhammad Yasin Malik, while calling for the shutdown, has reiterated its demand for handing over Afzal Guru’s mortal remains to his family.
Guru is survived by his wife, Tabassum, and an 18-year old son, Ghalib, who live in Tarzoo village near north Kashmir’s Sopore town.
Authorities placed Mirwaiz Umer Farooq under house arrest on Friday at his residence on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Markets, public transport, and other business establishments remained closed in Srinagar and other major cities and towns of the valley.
Authorities have made heavy deployments of police and paramilitary forces at sensitive areas in Srinagar, Sopore, and Baramulla, but no restrictions were imposed on public movement anywhere in the valley.
The Parliament attack took place on December 13, 2001, and involved terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in which five terrorists, six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel, and a gardener were killed.
(With agency inputs)