Separatists to march against J&K killings

Srinagar, May 6: Separatist leaders on Sunday called for a protest march and a sit-in outside the Civil Secretariat against the killings of five civilians and as many militants in the Valley.

Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), separatist conglomerate headed by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, called for the protest march to the Civil Secretariat in summer capital Srinagar on Monday. “Words fail to express the pain of the tragedy unfolding in #Shopian as the count of the brutally killed by Indian forces keeps rising!” Mirwaiz Umer Farooq tweeted. “Tomorrow as the ‘Durbar’ of our killers opens in Srinagar, leadership and people from all walks, traders, lawyers, students, employees and others will move towards Civil Secretariat and will sit in a peaceful dharna till the daily carnage is stopped. The protest strike will continue.”

The Civil Secretariat houses the offices of the Chief Minister, her cabinet colleagues and all senior bureaucrats of the state. After their six-month sojourn in winter capital Jammu, the Civil Secretariat offices are scheduled to start functioning in Srinagar from Monday. Five militants including top Hizbul commander Saddam Paddar and Kashmir University assistant professor Muhammad Rafi Bhat were killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Badigam village of Shopian district on Sunday. After the news of the killings spread, five civilians were killed in clashes with the security forces in Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama and Anantnag districts. (IANS)