The predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley continues to be in grief over the burning of a revered Sufi shrine as the majority of the population stayed away from work on the third straight day of the incident. Wednesday’s shutdown was spontaneous as various religious and political groups had called for a one-day strike on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in view of persisting tensions, authorities have decided to extend for another day the undeclared curfew imposed in parts of Srinagar which erupted on Monday following the devastating fire at the shrine that stood in the city’s Khanyar area in the memory and honour of the 11th century Sunni saint Sheikh Syed Abd al-Qadir Jeelani, who is buried in Baghdad, Iraq. Eighty people, including 35 police and fire service personnel, were injured in clashes triggered by anger at the perceived delayed response of firefighters in battling the blaze. The local police has formally registered a case and set up a SIT to probe the incident. The FIR lodged at the Khanyar police station under various sections of law also mentions Section 480 of the CrPC, which pertains to “mischief by fire or explosives in a building, etc” as the local residents and also some worshippers have claimed that the fire had been noticed in the shrine building at three distant places simultaneously. Separately, the state government has ordered a fact-finding inquiry by the divisional commissioner, Kashmir, to go into the circumstances leading to the incident. Separatists and some religious groups have dismissed the government investigation and are demanding an independent probe.
While almost all separatist leaders and some religious heads continued to be placed under house arrest, those of the mainstream political parties, including state and Central ministers, made a beeline to the gutted shrine. Among those who relocated to the site on Wednesday include Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, RS member and senior Congress leader Karan Singh and J&K PCC chief Saifuddin Soz.