Srinagar: Life was partially affected across Kashmir Valley due to a separatist-called shutdown on Wednesday but no curfew or restrictions were imposed.
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani called for a shutdown across the valley as part of his group's ‘Quit Kashmir' campaign, which started in June. He has been issuing protest calenders on a weekly basis to mount pressure on India and highlight the Kashmir problem internationally.
A total of 110 people have lost their lives in clashes with the security forces since June 11, and the public response to protests and shutdowns has declined to a large extent.
Main markets in Srinagar, Anantnag, Kupwara, Badgam, Pulwama and Sopore remained closed yesterday but educational institutions, banks, post offices, government offices, private transport and markets on the city peripheries and in uptown residential areas functioned normally.
Faced with a lukewarm response, Geelani called for just two days of shutdown starting on Wednesday and Saturday this week, according to his present weekly calender.
This is a huge departure from his earlier protest calender which had allowed just a day of normalcy in a week and paralysed life across the valley for over four months.
Authorities have been encouraged by the declining public response to the separatist-called shutdowns and a clear proof of this is their decision not to impose any curfew or restrictions during the protests now.
Earlier, authorities would impose a curfew or restrictions the moment separatists called for a shutdown or protests.
