The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik  called for a complete shutdown and civil curfew on October 21 against the unabated braid-chopping incidents. “The braid-cutting incidents are an Indian ploy to target women in Kashmir through specially trained persons,” the leaders said. They said the decision was taken during a meeting on Thursday evening at the residence of Geelani at Hyderpora.They also appealed to the people not to harm any suspects and “instead hand them over to Masjid committees”. Meanwhile, Kashmir University (KU) has postponed all the examinations scheduled to be held on Saturday in view of the separatist call.

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Last years statistics reveal the alarming state of attendance and highlights that the attendance of male youth aged 16-19 & 20-24 is less than 30%. This years statistics are predicted to be way lesser than 20% which once again puts J&K on the road to disappear, exactly as aimed by the seperatists. While their kin avail best of education and jobs the rest of Kashmir burns in illiteracy and frustration.

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Amid increasing instances of unidentified assailants targeting young women and chopping off their braids, the Hurriyat Conference called for a complete shutdown in the valley, saying "braid-chopping" was a government conspiracy to divert Kashmiri’s attention from their freedom struggle.

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It appears that the Separatists in Kashmir have only one solution to all their problems, calling for a shutdown or a "bandh". Who is affected? Definitely not these hard liners but the Kashmiri businessmen, Kashmiri school-college going children, Kashmiri tourism, people who need medical attention, etc. it primarily affects every Kashmiri. Then why call for a bandh for anything and everything? All states face issues (related to terrorism, law and order, social ills etc) however, it is rare to see a call for shutdown even in the most trying times by the people of these states. Be it the 2008 Mumbai attacks, unrest in NE caused by insurgents, red alerts in metros or even natural calamities the state/city machinery doesn’t crack up and revives itself for the good. A similar braid chopping incident was recently reported in Gurgaon near Delhi, however it died a slow death as it had no substance to it. So why is it that Kashmiri’s iterate a call for bandh so frequently and jeopardize the government machinery and life of a common Kashmiri?

Have these bandhs solved any purpose so far? This is for the common men/women in Kashmir to deliberately ponder upon. How long can they be fooled or are they comfortable blinded to the tremendous economic losses and above all loss of human life by aligning with the ulterior motives of the so called saviours of Kashmir who only demand shutdowns.