Faizan Wani
Srinagar, Sep 4: As curbs were gradually relaxed across Kashmir, the third day of the death of senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani Saturday saw silence prevailed across the Valley including the summer capital of Srinagar even as main markets remained shut and the transport off the roads.
Witnesses said that there was zero movement of public traffic on the roads as only a few private vehicles could be seen plying on Srinagar streets.
“Deployment of security forces remained across Srinagar and also on the highways and district headquarters. A spontaneous shutdown marked the third day of Geelani’s death in Kashmir,” the witness said.
Another witness said that in downtown, barbed wires were removed partially by the police and paramilitary security forces while two-wheelers and some private vehicles could be seen plying normally on the streets. A police official said that there were no restrictions in place and only deployment of security forces was made to ensure no law-and-order issue. “People cooperated with the security forces and the day passed off peacefully,” he said.
An official said that Banks were operational across the Valley and people could be seen busy in banking activities throughout the day. However, at some places, people complained of no cash in the ATMs in Srinagar and city outskirts. A group of locals walking in an almost deserted street of Lal Chowk, said that silence prevails across Kashmir. “Life is limping back to normal… gradually,” he said.
The 92-year-old Geelani passed away at his Hyderpora residence on Wednesday evening after prolonged illness. His family members had alleged that police snatched Geelani’s body and buried him silent in darkness, an allegation out rightly rejected by the police that stated “the fact was police facilitated the burial of Geelani.”
