Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, July 8: The top three separatist leaders of Kashmir today announced that there would be no shut down on July 13 and asked people to march towards Old City for paying tributes to 1931 “martyrs”.
This is for the first time since the outbreak of militancy in the region that the separatists have not called for shut down on July 13.
The chairmen of Hurriyat factions led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik would offer Zuhr (afternoon) prayers jointly at Grand Masjid, the statements issued by the trio said.
They said after the prayers, the leaders would march towards Naqashband Sahib shrine – which is barely half a kilometer from the historical mosque – where they will pay tributes to the victims of 1931 who are buried adjacent to the shrine, also called “martyrs graveyard”.
The separatists said that they will address a joint rally at the martyrs’ graveyard and appealed people to join the rally in large numbers.
Separatists said the decision not to call for shut down was taken jointly. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is also Valley’s chief priest, said the decision for not calling shut down was taken keeping in view the “sanctity” of the Ramadhan.
However, the reason cited by separatists for not calling shut down sounds bizarre since, in the recent past, they have been calling for strikes in Ramadhan. This Ramadhan also, they called for a shut down in Srinagar city against alleged desecration of Grand Mosque.
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