Srinagar: A shutdown is being observed in Kashmir valley today on account of International Human Rights Day to highlight the ‘grave’ human rights violations here in the region.
The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik issued the call for today, which the UN marks as the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights and one of the first major achievements of the new United Nations.
Shops and other commercial establishments were closed in Srinagar and other district headquarters of the valley.
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Public transport stayed off the roads while there was minimal movement of private vehicles in uptown areas of Srinagar city.
The Joint Resistance had also asked people to observe today as ‘Black Day’.
The leadership appealed to the international human rights agencies to take note of “grave” human rights violations taking place in Kashmir and pressurise India to stop the violations, had said the Joint Resistance, in a statement on Saturday.
On Friday, the Chairman of the Hurriyat (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had urged the UN to send a fact finding team to Kashmir to assess the ground situation and urge upon the Government of India to stop the human rights violations ‘committed by its forces in the valley.’
