Police used teargas shells to disperse protesters as villagers from Tral, Bijbehera, Matipora and neighboring villagers tried to head towards Anantnag town.
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Indian police arrested Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference Syed Ali Gilani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in Srinagar today when they defied curfew.
Curfew remained in force in the five districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian and Baramulla and 11 police station areas of the city as a preventive measure to thwart the separatists’ plans to take out the protest march.
All the roads leading to Anantnag or Islamabad were sealed by government forces including army while they had also erected barricades at multiple places.
The Hurriyat leader had asked the people to march towards South Kashmir’s Anantnag district and participate in a rally to be held at Lal Chowk after the Zuhar (afternoon) prayers.
While there were no official reports of anyone getting injured in the clashes, unconfirmed reports said at least a dozen protesters were hurt.
Praising the people of Kashmir especially youth for following the leaderships programmes, Geelani said, “Arrests, curfew and restrictions can’t weaken the ongoing freedom struggle”.
A police spokesman said that overall, the situation remained peaceful across the Valley.
Other separatist leaders including Shabir Shah have also been detained while Yaseen Malik of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has been lodged in a Srinagar lockup since violent protests erupted across the Kashmir Valley following the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Karwan-i-Aman bus service resumed today and 73 passengers left Srinagar in morning and reached Kaman Post Uri safely.
Reminiscent of 2010, separatists have started issuing weekly protest calendars.
They have also extended the strike call till July 29 with a call to march to Kulgam district on Wednesday.
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In Srinagar, shops and businesses remained closed for the 17th day in a row.
