Mirwaiz’s ‘Eidgah Chalo’ foiled

The government Thursday foiled Eidgah march called by Hurriyat (M) to mark death anniversaries of two of its slain leaders by enforcing tough restrictions in downtown and placing curbs on Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other leaders of his conglomerate.

The police and CRPF men were deployed in strength in areas falling under six police stations in downtown. The cops had placed barricades and concertina wires on the roads leading to martyrs graveyard Eidgah to prevent separatists and people from marching there.

The cops enforced restrictions and did not allow people to move freely. The restrictions were also enforced in Maisuma area in uptown Srinagar.

All shops, business establishments, educational institutions remained closed in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley while public transport was off the roads. The work in government offices and banks was affected by the strike.

The strike and “Eidgah March” was called by Hurriyat (M) to mark the death anniversaries of Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone.

Mirwaiz Mohammed Farooq was killed by unidentified gunmen on May 21, 1990 while another separatist leader Abdul Gani Lone was killed by gunmen on May 21, 2002 at a public rally at Eidgah.

At least 55 persons were killed when paramilitary CRPF men fired on funeral procession of Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq at Hawal area.

The paramilitary CRPF had at that time ordered an internal inquiry into the massacre, but 25 years on the government is yet to fix the responsibility of the massacre as no guilty CRPF man has been punished.

Authorities today also placed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest at his Nageen residence. Other Hurriyat (M) leaders Moulana Abbas Ansari and Agha Syed Hassan Al Moosvi Al Safvi were also placed under house arrest while  Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, Shahid-ul-Islam, Hilal Ahmad War and some others were detained and lodged in police stations.

IGP Kashmir SJM Gilani said adequate security arrangements were put in place to foil any attempts of disturbing law and order situation in the Valley.

“The day passed off peacefully with no untoward incident reported from anywhere in Srinagar,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hurriyat (M) spokesman slammed the government for imposing restrictions to prevent people from converging at Eidgah to pay tributes to the martyrs of  May 21.

“To commemorate the death anniversaries of Shahheed-e-Millat, Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq, Shaheed-e-Hurriyat, Abdul Gani Lone, Hawal martyrs and thousands of other Kashmiris martyrs, a peaceful rally was planned at the martyrs graveyard  Eidgah to offer Fateh Khwani and pay tributes to the martyrs besides reiterating the complete commitment and  resolve of the people towards the struggle,” he said.

The spokesman said even individuals were not allowed to visit the martyrs graveyard to offer fateha as the whole area and all  routes leading to the venue were sealed by barbed wires and heavy deployment of police and para military forces.

While condemning these oppressive measures, he said the resolve of the leaders and the people gets more strengthened through these repressive measures.

The spokesman thanked people for observing the strike and making “Hafta Shahadat” programmes a success.