Srinagar: The Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government on Monday launched a crackdown on the separatist leadership in Jammu and Kashmir.
This comes ahead of the annual martyrs' day function where separatists have decided to hold a joint rally. Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq have been arrested and many others have been detained to disallow the march.
Defending his government's action, Sayeed said, "We must not raise arms but we must talk to resolve issues between the countries."
Former chief minister Omar Abdullah hit out at the government saying, "This is the same Mufti Sayeed who said that this is a fight of intentions. We saw a battle of intentions today - their is curfew in the hwole downtown. The intentions of whom he used to talk they have been arrested. We have said it earlier that the BJP, PDP coalition would be the most dangerous and this is what is happenening."
The legacy of July 13 martyrs incident, in which 21 protestors were killed in firing by Dogra Army outside Srinagar Central Jail in 1931, is claimed by both the mainstream political parties of the Valley and the separatist groups.
While the day is observed as an official holiday every year, the separatists have been calling for a general strike on this day since 1990 to commemorate the sacrifices.
Hurriyat Conference factions, headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and pro-independence JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik jointly decided not to call for a strike this year. On record, all three groups maintained that the decision was taken in view of ongoing fasting month of Ramzan.
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