SRINAGAR: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Mashawarat or a joint advisory council of separatist parties in Kashmir has called for a shutdown on Monday against the death of a research scholar in Hyderabad.
Mudasir Kamran, a research scholar from Pulwama district in his mid twenties, was pursuing a doctorate at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.
He was found hanging from the ceiling of his hostel room by his colleagues late on Saturday and died while being shifted to a hospital.
While calling Mudasir’s death a “murder by Hindu fanatics”, a statement mailed by the council said: “Against this sad murder, the Muttahida Majlis e Mashawarat appeals to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to observe a civil curfew and protest vehemently (sic).”
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The joint advisory council was originally formed to chalk out a protest strategy for return of Afzal Guru’s body for burial in Kashmir valley.
The shutdown call comes as part of a protest programme for demanding Guru’s mortal remains, as violent protests erupted in Pulwama soon after news about Mudasir’s death spread on Sunday.
The council has also asked people to march towards Parigam village – late Mudasir’s hometown – on Tuesday “to condole with the family of the deceased.”
On Wednesday, residents of Kupwara district in north Kashmir have been asked to pay a visit to the house of Maqbool Bhat, a separatist leader who was hanged at Delhi’s Tihar jail in 1984.
On the same day, residents of Baramulla and Bandipore districts have been asked to visit the house of Afzal Guru near Sopore. Guru was hanged at Tihar jail on Feb 9.
The separatist council has also asked the Kashmiri diaspora to protest outside the Indian high commissions in their respective countries on Thursday.
On Friday there will be no strike, the council said, but people have been asked to protest after Zuhr prayers.
The separatists have asked Muslims across the world to launch an online campaign on Saturday and display pictures of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat on their profiles. They have asked the Facebook users to update their status as “The Martyrs want you not to forget their blood”
On Sunday, normal business will continue, the statement said.
The council meeting was attended by members of both the factions of separatist alliance, Hurriyat Conference besides the pro-Independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, politico-religous Jamaat-e-Islami and women’s separatist organisation, Dukhtaraan-e-Millat, the statement added.
