Shutdown in Kashmir against holding of panchayat polls

Srinagar, November 17 (KMW): The shutdown is being observed, today, to register protest against the holding of panchayat elections in the Kashmir Valley.
Call for the shutdown has been given by the Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik. All shops and business establishments are closed while traffic is off the road. The nine-phased panchayat elections commenced in JK State , today, amid tight security and heavy deployment of troops and police personnel.
The resistance leaders have urged the Kashmiri people to boycott the panchayat elections in the same way they boycotted the recently held local bodies’ elections. The leaders have also called for the strike in the poll-bound areas on their scheduled dates.
The authorities have suspended train service in the Kashmir zone.