Srinagar, Oct 27: Normal life in Kashmir was once again affected on Saturday due to strike called by separatists to protest against the landing of Indian Army in the Valley on this day in 1947.
Shops, fuel stations, private offices and other business establishments remained closed here in Srinagar. While the public transport remained largely off the roads, private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws were seen plying in many areas of the city.
Said some private schools also remained closed due to the strike.
Similar reports of shutdown were received from other district headquarters of the Valley.
Police and paramilitary forces were deployed in strength at “sensitive places to avoid any untoward incident”, officials said.
Separatists, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), had called for a shutdown Saturday to protest against landing of Army in Kashmir on October 27, 1947.
The Army had launched an operation, a day after the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession with the Union of India, to repulse “tribal raiders” from Pakistan from the region.
The separatist outfits have been calling for a strike on this day every year since eruption of militancy in the state in 1989.
The JRL – comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik – had asked the people to observe “Occupation Day” on Saturday as a “Black Day”.
