Protest march hits normal life in Kashmir valley

Normal life was hit for the second consecutive day on Tuesday due to a march called by a group of separatists to the residence of a Kashmiri student, who was found hanging in his hostel room in Hyderabad.

Authorities have deployed police and paramilitary personnel in large numbers in south Kashmir's Pulwama town, the native area of Mudasir Kamran, 25, who was found hanging from the ceiling of his hostel room on March 2, to thwart any attempts by the separatists to assemble there, official sources said.

While the situation across the Kashmir valley is peaceful, the police has sealed all roads leading to Parigam, the ancestral village of the deceased youth, who was pursuing Ph D in English from the HyderabadUniversity.

Shops, banks, petrol pumps and other business establishments remained closed because of the march called by Majlis Mashawarat, a separatist forum that came into being following the execution of Guru.

While most public transport remained off roads, private cars, cabs and autorickshaws were plying on the valley roads. Schools and colleges remained closed on account of the ongoing winter vacations.

Although the educational institutions in Kashmir open on March 1 every year after three months of winter vacations, the authorities this year extended the vacations till March 11 due to cold conditions.

The separatist groups and family of the deceased youth have ruled out suicide. "Kamran was murdered for leading funeral prayers for Guru," the statement said alleging the police were misleading the people about the circumstances of his death.

The amalgamation is also demanding return of mortal remains of Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat. Bhat was hanged and buried inside Tihar Jail on February 11, 1984, after he was convicted for murdering a police officer.

Both factions of Hurriyat Conference, the JKLF, Kashmir Bar Association and Dukhtaran-e-Millat are constituents of the Majlis which was formed in the wake of Guru's execution inside Tihar Jail on February 9.