Kashmir Lockdown: Top separatists Free But Mainstream Leaders Face The Axe indiatoday.in

As the Kashmir Valley heads towards 50 days of clampdown and mobile phone communication blockade, most Hurriyat (separatist) leaders are free, while most mainstream leaders have either been put under house arrest or taken into preventive custody.

In August, close to 3,000 detentions were made but subsequently two-thirds were released.

While the Central government had cracked the whip on several top separatist leaders such as Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah and Asiya Andrabi with a multi-agency swoop down much before August 5th, there were a few exceptions to the move.