Security was beefed up on Monday in and around busy business areas and women`s institutions in Kashmir valley as the deadline set by Lashker-e-Jabbar (LeJ) for women to wear burqa (veil) ended. Additional policemen, most of them in plainclothes, have been deployed at various places particularly outside women`s institutions and busy business areas in the city with a directive to keep a close watch on youth suspected to be involved in the burqa drive, official sources said.
LeJ, a lesser known militant outfit which made its mark in Kashmir only last month when it launched the burqa drive by carrying acid attack on two unveiled women in downtown Srinagar, had set September 1 as the deadline for women to wear burqa, but later extended it by 10 days conceding to the request of radical women`s organisation, Dukhtaran-e-Milat.
But the outfit has not made it clear whether the deadline ends in the morning or in the evening, as a result of which majority of the women in the valley preferred to remain indoors. Those who ventured out without wearing burqa returned home early, fearing trouble at the hands of LeJ activists who have threatened to go to any extent short of death penalty.
Escalation in militant attacks on the security forces throughout the state has aggravated the fears of the women.

Bureau Report