Kashmir: Life in the Valley disrupted by strike

Normal life was disrupted on Wednesday in the Kashmir Valley due to a strike called by separatist groups to protest against the 'proposed plans' to establish a Sainik Colony, settlements for migrant Kashmiri Pandits and induction of new industrial policy in the state.

Shops, business establishments and petrol pumps were shut in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir while government offices and banks witnessed thin attendance, officials said. They said public transport was off the roads, while private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws were seen plying normally. Private schools also remained closed due to the strike.

Reports of shutdown were received from other districts of the Valley as well.

On Monday, factions of Hurriyat Conference and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) had jointly called for a shutdown on Thursday against the "proposed plans of creation of the separate clusters for the Pandits, establishing of Sainik colonies, induction of new anti-Kashmir industrial policy and the attempts of demographic changes in Jammu and Kashmir".

While the chairman of hardline Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani continued to be under house arrest, moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was put under house detention on Wednesday.

Similarly, JKLF chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik was arrested by police from his Abi Guzar office on Wednesday.