Separatist-sponsored strike disrupts normal life in Kashmir

Shops, fuel stations, private offices and other business establishments remained closed here in Srinagar, officials said.

They said public transport remained largely off the roads, while private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws were seen plying in many areas of the city.

The officials said some private schools also remained closed due to the strike.

Similar reports of shutdown were received from other district headquarters of the valley, they said, adding that security forces were deployed in strength at sensitive places to avoid any untoward incident.

Separatists, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), had called for a shutdown Saturday to protest against landing of Army in Kashmir on October 27, 1947.

The Army had launched an operation, a day after the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession with the Union of India, to repulse tribal raiders from Pakistan from the region.

The separatist outfits have been calling for a strike on this day every year since eruption of militancy in the state in 1989.

The JRL – comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik – had asked the people to observe "Occupation Day" on Saturday.