Srinagar/Jammu, September 21
A complete shutdown was observed on Friday in the Kashmir valley to protest against an anti-Islam video made in the US after the Jammu and Kashmir Government closed educational institutions and imposed severe restrictions on movement to prevent demonstrations in the city.

The state government suspended cellphone and Internet services to pre-empt mobilisation by protesters, but restored these later in the evening. Services were shut down after the state government directed Internet and telecom service providers on Thursday evening to block downloading and uploading of any material linked to the controversial anti-Islam film to ensure that it was not accessible to subscribers in the state.

The state government said it may block access to social networking site Facebook and video-sharing site YouTube, where the film trailer was first uploaded. "If necessary, due to technical reasons, the Fully Qualified Domain Names shall be blocked viz www.youtube.com, www.facebook.com etc," the government order reads.

Hundreds of policemen and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in full riot gear have been deployed at sensitive places in Srinagar and other major towns of the Valley. Restrictions under Section 144 CrPC, which bans assembly of four or more persons, were imposed in five police station areas in Old Srinagar City, police sources said. Similar restrictions were also imposed in Anantnag town in south Kashmir, which has witnessed several protests against the video.

In Srinagar, entrances and exits to several volatile localities were sealed off with barbed wire, preventing residents from coming out of their houses. Among the residential localities sealed off were Maisuma in the heart of the city and a dozen neighbourhoods in the old city.

Despite restrictions, a protest was held near Munawarabad by activists of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of Nation) led by Aasiya Andrabi.

The police burst tear-smoke canisters to disperse the protesting women and several activists were detained, including Andrabi, according to eyewitnesses.

Another demonstration was held outside a shrine in Batamaloo area where hundreds of protesters shouted slogans against the US and demanded that the makers of the film be “hanged”. Protesters led by the Imam of the Batamaloo shrine also burnt a US flag.

Although there was no call for a strike, shops, businesses and offices remained closed in the Valley while the public transport remained off the roads throughout the day. A major inter-district bus terminal at Batamaloo in the city remained shut with its fleet of hundreds of passenger vehicles remaining grounded inside the bus-yard.

Anger over the anti-Islam film has been simmering in the Valley with Friday marking the second shutdown within a week over the issue.

In Jammu, protesters came out on the streets in large numbers after Friday prayers in areas such as Khatika Talab, Gujjar Nagar, Sidhra and Bathandi to express their anguish against the video. They burnt effigies of the US, Israel and other Western countries and also American flags.

Terming the video an “open attack” on Islam, protesters raised anti-US slogans and urged the government to sever diplomatic ties with Western countries.

(With PTI inputs)