Srinagar: The police detained dozens of separatists and leaders in Kashmir in an overnight crackdown to prevent them from organising rallies against alleged human rights violations in the Valley.
The police raided the houses of these activists in various parts of Srinagar and elsewhere and took them into ‘preventive custody’ to avoid ‘breach of peace.’
Earlier, the authorities placed key separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, under house arrest. Meanwhile, their partner, Muhammad Yasin Malik, has been in police custody for the past several days.
The crackdown comes after the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an alliance of key separatist leaders, asked the people of the state to observe human rights week from December 3 by holding candlelight vigils to highlight the “grave” human rights violations in the state.
It also urged the members of civil society and other associations to hold protests during the week to highlight the human rights situation prevailing in Kashmir.
