SRINAGAR (KIMS) — Authorities on Monday imposed restrictions across the Kashmir Valley as a precautionary measure, a day after protests erupted against the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei in an airstrike carried out by Israel and the United States.
Reports said the clock tower (Ghanta Ghar) at Lal Chowk in Srinagar was sealed with barricades, while police and CRPF personnel were deployed across the city to prevent gatherings of protesters.
Concertina wires and barricades were placed at key intersections leading into the city. Similar restrictions were imposed in Shia-populated areas of other districts in the Valley.
Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday that Khamenei was killed in the strike.
Following the news, protests were held at Lal Chowk and in other parts of Kashmir, where demonstrators raised anti-Israel and anti-US slogans. Many were also reciting noha (elegies) during the demonstrations.
Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned the killing, stating that the development has shaken the Muslim world. He also called for a shutdown on Monday and urged people to observe it peacefully and with dignity.
The shutdown call was supported by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti.
As a precautionary measure, the government closed all educational institutions across the Valley for two days to ensure the safety of students. Several universities and colleges also postponed examinations and suspended classwork on Monday. — (KIMS)