Separatist called shutdown affects life in J&K
Srinagar, July 7 : Life across the Kashmir Valley was adversely affected on Saturday by a protest shutdown called by the separatists against shifting of Asiya Andrabi, chief of a separatist women group to Delhi.
Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik called the protest after Dukhtaran-e-Milat (Daughters of Faith) chief Andrabi was shifted to Delhi by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday.
Andrabi and two of her associates, Fahmeeda Sofi and Nahida Nasreen were shifted from the Srinagar Central Jail in connection with a sedition FIR filed against them by the central agency.
The Patiala House Court in Delhi remanded the three to NIA's custody for 10 days till July 16.
Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer have been placed under house arrest while Malik has been taken into preventive custody. Shops, public transport and other businesses remained closed in Srinagar city and other district headquarters of the valley.
Rail services have been suspended as a precautionary measure, but Kashmir University officials said all exams scheduled on Saturday would be held as per schedule.
Authorities on Saturday announced curfew in Tral town of Pulwama District on the eve of second death anniversary of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani.
Wani was killed along with two other militants in Kokernag area of Anantnag district on July 8, 2016.
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
