Separatists call for daylong strike today

SRINAGAR: The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) called for a daylong strike on Saturday and civil curfew against the arrest of Dukhtaran-e-Millat chairperson Asiya Andrabi and two of her associates by National Investigative Agency.

Meanwhile, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat has termed the shifting of three women leaders to Delhi as ‘hijacking’.

The JRL headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer and Yasin Malik , termed Andrabi as a lion hearted leader of freedom struggle and termed the case of National Investigative Agency (NIA) against Andrabi and her associates as a cowardly act. “We condemn the arrest of Asiya Andrabi and two of her associates and their shifting to New Delhi by NIA and request people to observe complete shutdown in Kashmir against this on Saturday,’’ the JRL said in a statement.

Andrabi and her two associates, Fehmeeda Sofi and Naheeda Nasreen, were taken from Srinagar Central Jail to Delhi by the NIA and produced at Patiala House court.

In a press statement, Dukhtaran-e-Millat has blamed the NIA of hijacking the party chairperson and two other leaders from the Srinagar Central Jail. “Our leaders were serving their jail term in Kashmir and the family members were told a shocking news that all three leaders were shifted to Delhi in the morning (Friday).’’

SHUTDOWN ON BURHAN WANI’S DEATH ANNIV

The JRL has also asked people to observe strike on Sunday to commemorate the second death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahedeen commander, Burhan Wani.

However, the police have already arrested three separatist leaders ahead of Wani’s death anniversary. The security in south Kashmir has been beefed-up as there are apprehensions that militants might attack forces during the shutdown.

Wani was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Anantnag on July 8, 2016. Unrest that followed in the Valley led to the death of over 90 civilian protesters and left more than 4,000 injured.