Curfew, Shutdown cripple Valley for 45th day; JK delegation meets PM, Seeks immediate ban on Pellet Gun

Authorities on Monday continued with curfew in the entire Srinagar city while as the whole valley is reeling under retrictions and shutdown for straight 45th day.
Restrictions under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc) have also been imposed in Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Pampore, Badgam, Sopore, Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Kupwara, Handwara, Awantipora and Qaimoh towns , official sources said.
Irfan Ahmad, 17, from Fateh Kadal area of old Srinagar city was killed in Malarata area on Sunday evening. Ahmad was hit in the chest with a tear smoke shell. Separatists have already extended the ongoing protest shutdown till August 25.
The valley has been crippled by officially imposed curfew and separatist called protest shutdown since July 9, a day after the killing of militant commander, Burhan Wani.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Opposition parties led by former Jammu and Kashhmir chief minister Omar Abdullah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
The delegation, headed by working president of National Conference, also submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister and urged him to initiate a dialogue with all stake holders to bring normalcy in Kshmir. The delegation also demanded an immediate ban on pellet gun – weapon used by the central forces to control mob and disperse them.
The delegation had on August 20 met President Pranab Mukherjee, requesting him to urge the Centre in finding a solution ‘politically’. The Opposition delegation while seeking the President’s intervention had also submitted a memorandum and apprised him of the ‘worsening’ situation in the state.
Omar had said that the delegation had also requested the President to use his ‘influence’ on the state as well as the Centre “to stop the use of lethal force against civilians in the Valley”.
“The failure of the Central government to acknowledge that the issue in Kashmir is largely of a political nature has worsened the already volatile situation,” Omar had told reporters after an hour-long meeting with the President, as per PTI.
“We have requested the President to impress upon the central government to initiate a credible and meaningful process of political dialogue without any further delay involving all stakeholders to address the political issue in the state,” the NC leader had said. The delegation had also comprised CPI-M MLA M Y Tarigami, Congress MLAs led by its PCC Chief GA Mir and independent MLA Hakeem Yaseen.               Blaming Mehbooba Mufti-headed PDP-BJP government for having failed on all fronts to normalise the situation, Omar had added that the CM was directly responsible for the deteriorating situation.
The former CM, who was also accompanied by senior leaders of NC including provincial presidents of his party Nasir Wani and Davinder Rana, Ali Mohammed Sagar and AR Rather, had said, “The fire that has been raging in Kashmir Valley has already started spreading across Peer Panjal and Chenab Valley in Jammu region and Kargil area.”