Beef ban: Protests rock J&K after Friday prayers

According to eyewitness, dozens of youths assembled in Nowhatta area after congregation prayers and staged anti-India and pro-freedom protests.

The protesters raised slogans in favor of Islam, freedom and militants.

They said that the protesters were holding flags of Pakistan, LeT and ISIS.

Besides, the eyewitnesses said, the protesters were also holding a picture of 21- year-old Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Burhan Wani alias Arif Khan.

Some protesters also pelted stones at police personnel posted on law and order duty in the area. Police fired tear smoke shells to disperse them, a police official said.

Students at the University of Kashmir Friday held strong demonstrations against the banning of beef in Jammu and Kashmir.

They marched on the campus of the university amid massive sloganeering against the ruling PDP-BJP coalition government and the  Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

According to reports, three bovines were slaughtered at Reshi Bazar, Sherbagh and Lal Chowk area in a symbolic protest against the court order banning beef in the state.

Kashmir’s separatist leaders called for complete shutdown on Saturday (tomorrow) and protests after Friday prayers against the controversial beef ban.

The call was strike and protests was given by Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik, Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and supported by several separatist groups and religious organizations.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)