Srinagar, February 25
Life in Kashmir remained crippled for the second consecutive day today due to a strike call given by the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference in protest against the round-table conference on Jammu and Kashmir convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Shops, business houses, banks, semi-government establishments and courts remained closed and vehicles were off the roads in response to the strike call.
Radical Kashmiri women’s organisation Dukhtaren-e-Millat has extended support to the call.
The attendance in government offices was also affected, sources said. The district of Kupwara observed a near-total strike with shops, businesses and offices remaining closed.
Fearing trouble, the authorities have enforced prohibitory orders in the district since Thursday evening and the police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in strength.
A spokesman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat said holding of the round-table conference was meaningless as the meet was “meant to hoodwink the international community”.
— PTI
