Angry response: Curfew imposed in Srinagar

SRINAGAR: Indian security forces imposed a curfew in Srinagar and other major towns of Indian Kashmir, including Baramulla, Afzal Guru’s hometown, to avoid a possible backlash over the hanging of 2001 Indian parliament attack plotter.

Police hastily erected barricades across main entry roads and in the city centre in a bid to prevent any possible demonstrations while helicopters hovered overhead.

Some 400 protesters gathered in Muzaffarabad, capital of Azad, Jammu and Kashmir, burning Indian flags and chanting slogans including “down with India, down with India’s farce democracy, we will continue Guru’s mission”, an AFP reporter said.

The rally was organised by Pasban-e-Hurriyat, an organisation representing Kashmiris who migrated to AJK. Chief of the AJK chapter of All Parties Hurriyat Conference Uzair Ahmad Ghazali condemned the hanging and announced that his supporters would stage a sit-in in front of the United Nations office in Muzaffarabad on Monday.

The AJK government announced three days of mourning to mark Guru’s hanging.

Scuffles also broke out in New Delhi between Hindu activists and demonstrators who gathered at a city-centre protest site to condemn the hanging, a witness said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2013.