Curfew in Srinagar to prevent separatist march

SRINAGAR - Normal life was paralysed here again Saturday as authorities clamped curfew to prevent a protest march called by separatists.

“Curfew has been imposed in Srinagar city as a precautionary measure so that separatists are prevented from inciting youth to violence,” a police officer said here.

Curfew was also imposed in north Kashmir’s Sopore town and Kunzar village in Baramulla district.

“Restrictions have also been imposed in some areas of central Badgam district,” the officer added.

Hardline Hurriyat group headed by Syed Ali Geelani has called for a protest march to the Tourist Reception Centre (TRC) grounds in uptown Srinagar. Geelani is himself set to lead the march.

Geelani had led a similar protest march to TRC grounds in 2008 during the agitation against the allotment of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which manages the two-month-long pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Lord Shiva in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Thousands had attended that protest march.

Life was again hit here Saturday as shops, educational institutions, banks, post offices and other businesses remained suspended because of the official restrictions. Public transport also went off the roads.

As many as 64 people have died in the ongoing unrest in the Kashmir Valley since June 11.

To meet the law and order challenges faced by his government as stone-pelting mobs in the valley continued to defy the writ of the administration, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah effected major changes in the police and civil administration Thursday.

A new post of additional director general (law and order) has been created here while the top brass in police and civil administration have been shifted.

K. Rajendra, Indian Police Service officer, has been brought in as the state’s first additional director general (law and order).

Besides this, the state has a new principal secretary (home) and a new inspector general of police (Kashmir zone).