Separatist-sponsored strike disrupts normal life in Kashmir Valley

Srinagar, October 16

Normal life was affected in poll-bound areas of the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday due to a strike called by separatists against the conduct of urban local body polls in the state.

Shops, fuel stations and other business establishments were shut in poll-bound areas of Ganderbal and Srinagar, officials said.

They said public transport was off the roads in these areas even as a few private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws were seen plying.

The government has also declared a holiday in poll-bound areas.

The officials said life was normal elsewhere in the Valley.

The separatists--Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL)–had asked people living in the areas where voting was under way on Tuesday to observe strike.

Meanwhile, authorities have reduced mobile internet speeds across the Valley as a precautionary measure. PTI