Malik ends hunger strike after release of supporters

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 24

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik today ended his four-day-long hunger strike after his party supporters were released from detention, the party said in a statement.

The Maisuma area, stronghold of the JKLF, remained shut today and protesters clashed with the police and paramilitary personnel disrupting the traffic in the heart of the city.

Later, the police released several detained residents of Maisuma, which was one of the demands of Malik. “After the release of these people and assurances of officials to stop harassment of locals, Malik ended his hunger strike,” the party said.

Earlier in the day, the JKLF chairman along with his supporters staged a sit-in to protest alleged highhandedness of the police.

Malik spent the chilly winter night in a tent at Budshah Chowk and was joined by more supporters this morning, resulting in a massive traffic jam in the city as authorities closed the busy road for vehicular traffic.

Business activities also came to a halt in Budshah Chowk and adjoining areas, including Lal Chowk and Residency Road, due to the tense situation following the sit-in. The police and paramilitary forces were deployed in strength to maintain law and order.

“Malik was forced to sit on an indefinite hunger strike against continuing police oppression, arrests, nocturnal raids and harassment of the residents of Maisuma and adjacent areas,” a JKLF spokesman said.

The spokesman alleged that the police had virtually laid a tight siege around Maisuma for the past 10 days and were conducting nocturnal raids and harassing local residents.

Malik had launched an indefinite hunger strike on Sunday.

After Malik ended his protest, he was admitted to a city hospital. The police have issued no statement about the detention or today’s incident.