Police foil sit-in by separatists; detain Mirwaiz, Malik

Srinagar: Separatists leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik were on Wednesday detained by police after they took out a protest march and tried to stage a sit- in at the city centre here against the alleged harassment of people in the Valley and "ill-treatment" of youth languishing in jails.

Mirwaiz, who is the chairman of moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, and JKLF chief Malik were taken into custody at Abi Guzar after they, along with their supporters, took out a protest march from outside the JKLF head office there.

Several of their supporters were also taken into custody.

The separatists tried to move towards Lal Chowk city centre to stage a sit-in against the "harassment of people especially in south Kashmir" and "ill-treatment" of youth languishing in jails in the valley and outside.

Earlier, the duo addressed a joint press conference outside JKLF head office at Abi Guzar, where they called for a "complete strike across the valley on November 27. "We ask the government to stop ill-treating our political prisoners, stop harassment of people in the name of militancy. They should stop crackdowns in south Kashmir where there is a military build up going on," Mirwaiz told reporters.