SRINAGAR - Normal life remained crippled in Occupied Kashmir for the second consecutive day on Monday due to complete shutdown, marked by strict curfew and other restrictions to control protests against the killing of Hizb commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhut by Indian troops.

Curfew and restrictions were imposed in Srinagar, Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama, Badgam, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Kupwara and Baramulla districts on Sunday to prevent protests against the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhut and his associate Faizan Ahmad in Tral on Saturday.

Call for a two-day strike was given by the joint resistance leadership, comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik. The leadership has also called for a march towards Tral on Tuesday (today) to pay tributes to Sabzar Ahmad Butt and other martyrs.

All shops and business establishments remained closed while traffic of all kinds was off the road. Educational institutions were closed by the authorities besides postponing the Kashmir University exams. Train, mobile and internet services also remained suspended in the valley.

Resistance leaders, including Syed Ali Gilani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, are still under house arrest while Muhammad Yasin Malik was arrested and shifted to the central jail on Sunday. Other detained leaders included Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Advocate Shahidul Islam, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Ayaz Akbar, Altaf Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Ashraf Laya and Hilal Ahmed War.

Hurriyet Forum Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a statement issued in Srinagar, said the statements coming from New Delhi showed that the Indian government had decided to openly admit that it had handed over Kashmir and the people of Kashmir to its army.

Mirwaiz criticised the remarks of Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and the army chief, saying such statements had proven India wanted to keep Kashmir with it even if all Kashmiris had to be repressed, killed or humiliated for that.

Shutdown was observed in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on the eighth death anniversary of two Kashmiri women, Aasiya and Neelofar. They were abducted, molested and subsequently killed by men in uniform in Shopian on this day in 2009. All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman Syed Ali Gilani, in a statement, demanded a probe into the gruesome incident by an international investigation agency.

On the other hand, reacting to the statement of Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on the issue of human shield, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Keneth Roth said Bipin showed ‘criminal leadership.’ General Bipin had termed the infamous act of strapping a Kashmiri to an army jeep as “innovative” and said that commending army officer was to boost morale of his army in Kashmir.