Srinagar: A complete shut down in Handwara town of North Kashmir’sfrontier district Kupwara is being observed to mourn the killing of 22 civilians allegedly by Boreder Security Force (BSF) personnel on this day. The shutdown has crippled normal life in Handwara town.
Shops and commercial establishments are closed and passenger transport is off the roads. Joint Resistance Leadership – an amalgam of separatist groups – has called for a shutdown in the town to protest the massacre.The locals and survivors of the massacre said that the traders and residents of the town were protesting at the main chowk against Gaw Kadal massacre on this day in 1990 when BSF men opened indiscriminate fire, killing 22 civilians and injuring 40 others.
The relatives have demanded that a memorial be built at the main chowk for the victims of the massacre. They have also demanded that a murder case be registered against the guilty BSF troopers.
