SRINAGAR, Jan 25: A one-day strike to denounce excesses by Indian troops closed down shops here on Friday.
The strike, sponsored by the Al Umar Mujahideen group, also took traffic off the streets of Srinagar, a city of 100,000.
All shops, banks and post offices were shut, while there was nominal attendance in government and semi-government offices.
Al Umar is headed by Mushtaq Zargar, one of three Kashmiri leaders exchanged for the hostages of an Indian Airlines plane hijacked in Dec 1999 from Nepal to Afghanistan.
“The strike is to protest the increase in atrocities by (Indian) security forces in (held) Kashmir,” Zargar said in a statement published by local newspapers. Indian forces have stepped up patrols in Srinagar amid threats by Mujahideen to attack troops on the Republic Day.
10 SHOT DEAD: Indian forces claimed killing 10 Mujahideen in occupied Kashmir in three separate encounters on Thursday night.
According to police, Border Security Force (BSF) guards shot dead five freedom fighters at Darwan village, 30kms southwest of Srinagar.
A BSF personnel also died during the fighting, which broke out after guards moved into the village on a tipoff.
Police alleged the slain Mujahideen were from the Jaish-i-Mohammed.
Five more Mujahideen were shot dead in the southern districts of Poonch and Rajouri in two separate encounters sparked by cordon and search operations, the police claimed.
The slain belonged to the Lashkar-i-Taiba, the Indians alleged.
BLACK DAY TODAY: In order to draw world attention towards the plight of Kashmiri people and to remind them of their commitments made to the Kashmiri people, Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and around the world would observe India’s “Republic Day” on Jan 26 as “black day”.
Call to this affect has been given by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).
The objective of the “Black Day” is to expose Indian’s so-called democracy and secularism, and its large-scale atrocities being inflicted on the innocent Kashmiris demanding their right of self-determination in accordance with the UN security council resolutions. —AFP/APP
