<p>Partial shutdown in Kashmir Valley on Thursday marked the 37th death anniversary of JKLF founder, Mohammad Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged in New Delhi's Tihar Jail on this day in 1984.</p>.<p>While shops, fuel stations and other business establishments remained shut in the commercial hub Lal Chowk and old city Srinagar, the markets were open in the civil lines area of the city. Public transport was largely off the roads, but private cars, auto-rickshaws and cabs were plying almost normally in the city.</p>.<p>Reports of similar shutdown were received from other district headquarters of Kashmir. While educational institutions in the Valley are closed on account of winter vacations, reports said, attendance in government offices was more or less normal.</p>.<p>Unlike previous years, this time the impact of the strike was low, reports said. Till 2019 separatists would issue strike calls in advance on February 11 to press their demand for the return of Bhat’s mortal remains to his family.</p>.<p>They would also call for a strike on February 9 demanding the return of the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was secretly hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in 2013. After both the executions, the bodies were buried within the precincts of the jail.</p>.<p>However, since the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 in August 2019 and subsequent crackdown on separatists, no such strike calls have been issued. Even the local media doesn't publish any statements coming from separatist groups.</p>.<p>Posters, purportedly issued by Hurriyat Conference, were pasted in some areas of the city in recent days, calling for a shutdown on February 9 and 11. However, the officials said, the authenticity of the posters could not be verified.</p>.<p>Authorities had made elaborate security arrangements in Srinagar and other sensitive areas of the valley to maintain law and order.</p>
<p>Partial shutdown in Kashmir Valley on Thursday marked the 37th death anniversary of JKLF founder, Mohammad Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged in New Delhi's Tihar Jail on this day in 1984.</p>.<p>While shops, fuel stations and other business establishments remained shut in the commercial hub Lal Chowk and old city Srinagar, the markets were open in the civil lines area of the city. Public transport was largely off the roads, but private cars, auto-rickshaws and cabs were plying almost normally in the city.</p>.<p>Reports of similar shutdown were received from other district headquarters of Kashmir. While educational institutions in the Valley are closed on account of winter vacations, reports said, attendance in government offices was more or less normal.</p>.<p>Unlike previous years, this time the impact of the strike was low, reports said. Till 2019 separatists would issue strike calls in advance on February 11 to press their demand for the return of Bhat’s mortal remains to his family.</p>.<p>They would also call for a strike on February 9 demanding the return of the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was secretly hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in 2013. After both the executions, the bodies were buried within the precincts of the jail.</p>.<p>However, since the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 in August 2019 and subsequent crackdown on separatists, no such strike calls have been issued. Even the local media doesn't publish any statements coming from separatist groups.</p>.<p>Posters, purportedly issued by Hurriyat Conference, were pasted in some areas of the city in recent days, calling for a shutdown on February 9 and 11. However, the officials said, the authenticity of the posters could not be verified.</p>.<p>Authorities had made elaborate security arrangements in Srinagar and other sensitive areas of the valley to maintain law and order.</p>
