A Kashmiri artist has accused Facebook of pulling down a cartoon he had drawn and posted on the social networking site to mark the third anniversary of separatist leader Afzal Guru's execution, reported the Hindustan Times. Mir Suhail Qadiri's artwork, which was first published in the English daily Rising Kashmir, showed roots growing out of Guru’s grave in Tihar jail connecting to the roots of a large tree labelled "Kashmir".

After he posted the cartoon on Facebook, Qadri said he received a message from the website saying, “We removed something you posted”. The artist said, “The incident shows how fragile freedom of expression is in India. I know that in a community many people don’t like my cartoons, but things getting deleted is just not acceptable.” A Facebook spokesperson said the company was investigating the matter.

In a separate development, NDTV reported that a separatist leader called for a complete shut down of the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday to protest the “judicial killing” of Guru and demand the return of his mortal remains. Anticipating tension, the police imposed restrictions in various parts of the region and detained many separatist leaders, including Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik and Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, reported dna.