SRINAGAR: A shutdown called by separatists to commemorate the third death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani disrupted normal life in most parts of Kashmir Valley and the highway town of Banihal in Jammu region of the state on Monday.
While the shops and other businesses and most educational institutions in these areas remained shut, the local police and Central armed forces enforced a security lockdown in sensitive parts of summer capital Srinagar to hold back rallies and protests. The call for the one-day strike had been issued by “Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL)”, an alliance of key separatist leaders.
The authorities had earlier on Saturday blocked mobile Internet services in southern parts of the Valley whereas their speed elsewhere in the Valley was reduced to 2G "as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order". The rail services were also suspended in the Valley. The police kept a close watch on the movement of key separatist leaders throughout the day.
The authorities said that the overall situation remained "peaceful and under control" across the Valley and also in Banihal town.
They also said that the travel by Amarnath pilgrims to the 3,888 feet high cave-shrine in Kashmir Himalayas from winter capital Jammu was suspended for Monday "as a precautionary measure" in view of the separatists’ strike call.
"No yatri movement was allowed today from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas towards the Valley," a government spokesman said.
However, thousands of pilgrims who had already reached the base-camps of Baltal and Pahalgam in the Valley began their walk through rugged hills towards the cave-shrine on Monday morning. A spokesman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said that the yatra continued "smoothly" on Pahalgam and Baltal routes and also the helicopter services operated as usual.
He said that 15,732 pilgrims paid obeisance at Amarnath during the day.
With these as many as 1,11,655 devotees have had darshan of Shivling at Amarnath, so far, during this year’s yatra.
