Chenab valley observed a total shutdown on Sunday in response to a two-day strike call given by Joint Resistance Leadership to protest attempts at abrogation of Article 35A, a day before the case comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court. The strike call was endorsed by Anjuman-e-IslamiaBhadarwah and Majlis-e-ShouraKishtwar and register their protest against any move to temper with or revoke Article 35A.
The JRL consist of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who head their respective factions of pro-freedom Hurriyat Conference, and chairman of Jammu Kashmir LiberationFront, Yasin Malik.
Shops and other business establishments belonging to a particular community remained shut, however vehicular traffic plied normally.
The two socio-religious bodies have come together amid fears that the Hindu nationalist BharatiyaJanata Party was planning to revoke the special constitutional provision in an attempt to change the Muslim-majority state’s demography.
In Kishtwar, shops and business establishments remained closed and transport also remain off the road as Majlis-e-ShooraKishtwar, an amalgam of local Imams and traders, supported the JRL shutdown call.
While Article 370 of the Constitution grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Article 35A gives special rights to Jammu and Kashmir’s permanent residents.
Government forces were put on high alert as extra columns of police and CRPF were deployed across Bhadarwah and Kishtwar to thwart any protests.