A bandh was observed in parts of Srinagar on Saturday to pay tributes to Moulvi Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone on their death anniversary, officials said.

The bandh was called by the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Most of the shops in the downtown areas of the city, including Nowhatta, Gojwara and Rajouri Kadal, were shut, the officials said.

They, however, added that public transport was plying in these areas as well as in the remaining parts of the city.

Shops and other business establishments in other areas of Srinagar as well as in other districts remained open, the officials said.

Security forces were deployed in the vulnerable areas to prevent any law-and-order problems, they added.

The separatist amalgam had urged people on Wednesday to visit the Eidgah, where the two leaders were laid to rest, and offer prayers for them.

Abdul Gani Lone, a prominent Hurriyat leader and the father of People's Conference chairman Sajad Lone, was assassinated in Srinagar in on May 21, 2002 during a rally to mark the death anniversary of the former Mirwaiz of Kashmir, Moulvi Mohammad Farooq.

Moulvi Farooq, the father of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was assassinated on May 21, 1990.

Meanwhile, paying tributes to his father, Sajad Lone said Abdul Gani Lone was killed for saying what he believed in and those who killed him were terrorists and will rot in hell.

"Remembering my father Abdul Gani Lone. Every year as 21st May approaches I start trembling. Those painful moments/memories -- of a family receiving the bullet-ridden body of their loved one. Those moments of helplessness follow you all your life," the People's Conference chairman said in a series of tweets.

"Every time a person is killed in our valley, I can visualise what must be happening at his or her home. The teary-eyed wails of the loved ones, the anguish -- it is all so same. My father was killed for saying what he believed in. Those who killed him were terrorists and will Inshallah rot in hell. As will all those terrorists who kill unarmed innocent civilians," he said and prayed for peace in Kashmir.

"For my father and for all those who have laid down their lives in this conflict, all I pray for is peace. May no bullet-ridden dead bodies be delivered to families. May this madness end. May sanity prevail," Sajad Lone said.

Paying his tributes, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader M Y Tarigami said both the leaders had a firm faith in dialogue.

"We pay homage to Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq sb and Abdul Gani Lone sb on their respective death anniversaries. Both the leaders had firm faith in dialogue and strived for promotion of harmony and strengthening of bonds among communities," the Left leader wrote on Twitter.

(With PTI inputs)?
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