SRINAGAR, Sept 14: Even as the authorities condemned a US-made anti-Islam film denouncing Prophet Muhammad, they have placed most of the senior separatist leaders under house fearing violent anti-US protests in the valley.
Police have been deployed outside the residences of the Chairmen of both the hardline and the moderate factions of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, and they have been asked not to move out, as are other senior separatsit leaders Muhammad Yasin Malik and Shabir Ahmad Shah.
Geelani had appealed to people to take out peaceful protest demonstrations after Friday prayers against the film which reportedly depicts the Prophet Mohammed in a poor light.
Police have also been deployed in large numbers in old parts of capital Srinagar, known for violent demonstrations especially outside the Jamia Masjid or the valley’s grand mosque on Friday.
“Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code are in place in the city to prevent any breach of law and order,” IANS quoted as saying a police official.
Meanwhile, the state government has approached the union telecommunications ministry to block the blasphemous video on YouTube, which, they said, was aimed at “causing discord among the people of different faiths.”
“The state Govt strongly denounces this desecrating act. Government is making every effort to ensure that such video clips carrying blasphemous content are blocked and removed from the cyberspace,” an official spokesperson said while requesting people to maintain calm.
