Partial shutdown in valley marks death anniversary of Burhan Wani

SRINAGAR — Major parts of the Kashmir Valley observed a partial shutdown on Thursday to mark the fifth death anniversary of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, shot dead along with two associates on this day in 2016 in Bamdoora area of Kokernag in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

The shops and business establishments, scheduled to remain open as per the government order in wake of COVID-19 pandemic, were closed. Overall impact of shutdown was seen in south Kashmir districts of Kulgam, Anantnag, Shopian and Pulwama.

“This strike is to keep reminding us of what we have been suffering for years now. Shutdown is our way of peaceful protest,” an employee of a private firm said.

The impact of the shutdown was seen in the Srinagar city and the towns as shops were shut, but everything remained peaceful. In addition to the closure of shops, very thin movement of transport was witnessed across the valley.

However, no incident of protests was reported from anywhere in the Kashmir valley.

It is pertinent to mention that none of the factions of pro-freedom leaders had called for strike and it was spontaneous and voluntary.