Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 15: Two senior separatist leaders including moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik were today detained by police after they attempted to march towards city centre Lal Chowk to hold a sit-in protest.
Earlier, both the separatists addressed a press conference at Abi Guzar locality here and called for a shutdown on November 27 to express solidarity with prisoners languishing in various jails of State and country. The separatists during the press conference announced to hold day-long sit-in protest near Clock Tower Lal Chowk to protest the plight of detainees and military operations across Kashmir, particularly in southern districts.
As soon as Mirwaiz and Malik along with their supporters tried to march towards Lal Chowk, police swung into action and stopped them inside Central Market Abi Guzar. Both along with many of their supporters were bundled into a police vehicle and then lodged in nearby Kothi Bagh Police Station. The police dispersed the remaining participants of the march peacefully.
Both the separatist leaders alleged that hundreds of prisoners are facing ill-treatment at the hands of jail authorities and demanded that they should be given their rights. Mirwaiz and Malik also demanded a halt to ongoing anti-militancy operations in the Valley in general and South Kashmir in particular. “Under the garb of these operations, common people are being subjected to atrocities,” they alleged.
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