All markets, schools and business establishments here were closed on Friday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its affiliates called for a shutdown to protest the imposition of jaziya, or protection tax, by the Taliban on Sikhs in Pakistan.

Vehicular traffic in this Jammu and Kashmir winter capital stayed off the roads as workers of the BJP, Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) came out on the streets enforce the shutdown. Clashes with police were reported in some places, an official said.