Lockdown in Srinagar, other towns over demonstrations

Most parts of Indian Kashmir under curfew yesterday to prevent protests to mark 1st anniversary of hanging of Guru.

SRINAGAR/ MUZZAFFARABAD: Most parts of Indian Kashmir were under curfew on Sunday to prevent protests to mark the first anniversary of the hanging of Afzal Guru, which fanned anger last year in the already tense region.

Shops and other businesses were shut and traffic was thin in Srinagar and other towns, as a result of the curfew and after several groups called a strike across the region for the anniversary.

Mohammed Afzal Guru was executed on February 9 last year and buried inside a prison in Delhi after being convicted over a raid on the Indian parliament in 2001. Guru always insisted he was innocent, while protesters in Kashmir have often accused the police of framing him.

A conference was organised by the Jammu and Kashmir National Front. Speaking on the occasion, senior leader of APHC Azad Kashmir chapter Altaf Hussain Wani said the hanging of Muhammad Afzul Guru to “satisfy the collective conscious of India” was a disgrace to Indian Democracy and its judicial system.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2014.