Martyr’s Memorial Row: Admin takes U-Turn; Shutdown to continue

Pulwama: Announcement on loud speaker of a local mosque declared the continuation of shutdowns in Pulwama early Thursday.
The south Kashmir’s Pulwama district was supposed to throw open the markets after a shutdown which stretched for a fortnight. But the administration has backed out from its commitment of allowing the erection of memorial board, as announced on loud speakers.
The announcements said that government has backed out from its decision about installation of the memorial board in Pulwama. The announcement further said that police visited Mohammad Akram Dar, a local cleric, and told him that memorial installation will not be allowed. Therefore, the shutdown is going to be persisted with.
Earlier, the administration was forced to accede to the demand of the people after tremendous pressure from media and pro-freedom leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Shabir Shah.
It is pertinent to mention here that the district administration has taken a U-turn on its decision only after five hours.