Shops, businesses and schools were shut in occupied Kashmir on Saturday to register protest against the holding of so-called panchayat elections in India occupied Kashmir.
Call for the shutdown has been given by the Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik.
All shops and business establishments are closed while traffic is off the road.
The nine-phased panchayat elections commenced in the occupied territory amid tight security and heavy deployment of Indian troops and police personnel.
The resistance leaders have urged the Kashmiri people to boycott the panchayat elections in the same way they boycotted the recently held local bodies’ elections. The leaders have also called for the strike in the poll-bound areas on their scheduled dates.
The occupation authorities have also suspended train service in the territory.
