Kashmir shuts down on Maqbool’s anniversary
GK NEWS
SERVICE
Srinagar, Feb 11: Kashmir Valley observed a daylong shutdown on
Saturday to mark the 22nd death anniversary of Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, the
founder of pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
Shops, business establishments, government offices, banks and other
institutions remained closed in this summer capital of the state and other major
towns of the Valley in response to the shutdown called by JKLF and other groups
including Hurriyat Conference.
Streets wore a deserted look with very few
vehicles plying.
A group of activists belonging to Shabir Ahmed Shah’s
Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) staged a protest march as they shouted slogans
demanding the right to self-determination and freedom while marching towards the
office of UN Military Groups for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
Maqbool Bhat,
the JKLF founder, was hanged in New Delhi on February 11, 1984, on the charge of
killing Ravindra Mhatre, an Indian diplomat in Birmingham, England. He was later
buried in the jail premises.
The Kashmir Bar Association last July filed a
petition in the state High Court seeking a direction to bring back the mortal
remains of Maqbool Bhat from Tihar jail. The JKLF has also been demanding the
return of his mortal remains.
“Bhat is the initiator and inspiration of our
freedom struggle. Today we demand that his remains be returned to his family and
the people of Kashmir,” said Yasin Malik, the chairman of the JKLF.
The DPF
chief Shabir Shah also urged the Indian authorities to allow people of the
Kashmir to bring back the remains of Maqbool from Tihar jail to here.
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