Security beefed up in J&K ahead of JKLF leader Amanullah Khan's farewell rally
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir police and CRPF enforced strict security check on Srinagar’s Lal Chowk and neighbourhood areas in wake of Amanullah Khan's funeral in absentia , the co-founder of pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
The 82-year-old Khan, who introduced gun to Kashmiri youths in 1989, died at a hospital in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
In an attempt to curb violence in wake of Khan's funeral in absentia, the police and CRPF have beefed up security in the Lal Chowk area. (Photo: DC)
The security forces made requisite arrangements to block the entry and exit points at Lal Chowk. The neighbouring Maisuma, where JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik resides, has also been placed under strict security blanket.
On Wednesday, Malik was detained and brought to Kothi Bagh police station. Besides, some other JKLF activists have been taken into “preventive custody”, officials said. Kashmir’s Chief Muslim cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, along with half a dozen other senior separatist leaders, have been placed under house arrest to prevent them from gathering at Lal Chowk.
Many separatist leaders have been place under house arrest. (Photo: DC)
Being miffed by the high handedness of security forces, Malik condemned the imposition of curfew-like restrictions at Lal Chowk, Court Road, Aabi Guzar, Koker Bazaar, Maisuma and Gaw Kadal.
A curfew-like situation has been imposed, entry and exit points at Lal Chowk have been closed to avoid any form gathering. (Photo: DC)
Amanullah Khan was the father-in-law of regional People’s Conference chairman and J&K’s minister for social welfare Sajad Gani Lone. He is married to Khan’s only daughter, Asma Khan, but he decided not to attend Khan’s funeral prayer, which will take place in Islamabad later today.
Lone's visit to Islamabad for Khan's funeral prayer might have garnered scathing criticism from the opposition, political watchers said. However, his wife had flown to Islamabad last week to look after her ailing father.
The JKLF leader, who had led a violent campaign for independent Kashmir, was born in Astore area of Gilgit on August 24, 1934. He co-founded the Kashmir Independent Committee in 1963. Apart from being elected as the secretary-general of Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front (PF) in 1965, he was the co-founder of Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Front (JKNLF) with Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar jail on February 11, 1984.
Khan’s death has been widely mourned in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah are among the mainstream leaders from the state who condoled Khan’s death and sympathised with the bereaved family. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also condoled his death, saying that the sacrifices of Khan for Kashmiris would be long remembered.
