Separatist groups call for shutdown paralyses life in Srinagar
Srinagar, Mar 4 : Separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir have called for a shutdown on Monday, paralyzing normal life in the Valley, while demanding the return of the mortal remains of Kashmiri militant Afzal Guru who was recently executed for an attack on the parliament in 2001.
The call was given by the Mutahida Majlis Mashawarat (MMM), which is an umbrella organisation of several separatist groups in the valley.
Guru was buried within the compound of the Tihar Jail in the national capital New Delhi, where he was executed.
The MMM has also called for the ban to condemn the death of a Kashmiri student named Mudasir Ahmed Malla, who was found dead in his hostel room in Hyderabad on Sunday (March 03).
Though Malla was found in his room hanging from the ceiling indicating suicide, separatists are alleging he was tortured and killed by security forces.
Reports claim that Malla was detained by the police as he participated in the protests by Kashmiri students in Hyderabad against Guru's hanging.
The state's summer capital Srinagar was badly hit by the shutdown call as most of the main markets and important establishments in the city remained closed.
Police personnel were seen patrolling on the empty streets of the city and few people were seen walking on the roads in the morning.
Kashmir has been facing a wave of protests and shutdowns since Guru's hanging last month.
The execution follows the hanging of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving militant of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, last year.