Shutdown in Kashmir in protest against life sentences; Union Home Minister remarks no withdrawal of AFSPA from JK till peace prevails; Union Home Minister: Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba remain dominant groups in JK; Militants killed in encounters
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    • According to reports, normal life across Kashmir was paralyzed on December 10 due to the shutdown called by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front to protest the recent life sentences to two Kashmiri youths by a TADA court in Jammu on December 3. The strike called by the JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik was supported by the Hurriyat Conference (M), Hurriyat Conference (G), High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Lashkar-e-Toiba, Mahaz-e-Azadi, Dukhtaran-e-Millat and others. 1

    Meanwhile, according to reports, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on December 10 said the partial withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from some areas of Jammu and Kashmir is unlikely to take place in near future. On the issue of AFSPA, the Home Minister set at rest all speculations stating that the issue could be settled only after peace is restored in Kashmir. 2

    In another development, reports noted that Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on December 13 said the militant outfits Hizbul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba still remain to be the dominant militant groups operating in some parts of Jammu and Kashmir despite the situation showing improvement. Stating this at the Home Ministry’s Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting at New Delhi, the Shri Shinde said that these militant groups are mostly operating in districts of Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipore, Anantnag and Pulwama in Kashmir and Poonch, Ramban and Rajouri in Jammu region. 3

    Meanwhile, reports noted that Union Home Secretary R K Singh is scheduled to arrive in Jammu on December 17 for a one day visit would also conduct an aerial survey of Mughal Road. Union Home Secretary will be briefed about the steps being taken to avoid closing of the Mughal road during the winters and a permanent solution being found to prevent landslides from occurring frequently. Engineers taking care of the Road project would also brief the Union Home Secretary about it. 4

    In other developments, three unidentified militants were killed and four soldiers injured in two separate encounters in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. The encounters took place in Cherhar Tujar and Mundji areas of Sopore. 5

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