On April 18th, 1996, Indian army officers arrested six top leaders of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). The arrest took place as they were leading a peaceful march towards the Army Headquarters in Srinagar to serve them with a notice: "Quit Kashmir."

Syed Ali Shah Gilani, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Mohammed Yasin Malik, Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat, Abdul Gani Lone and Maulana Abbas Ansari, all members of the Executive Council of the APHC, were taken into custody near the office of the United Nations Military Observers Group [which has been deployed on both sides of Kashmir since 1948, when the UN Security Council passed several resolutions giving the people of Kashmir their right to self-determination] in Srinagar, after a-two kilometre march.

The APHC had called for a state-wide strike which served to paralyse life in the entire Indian occupied territory. The marchers were carrying banners "Quit Kashmir," and "Indian Army Go Back."

In a joint release, all the leaders said was simply that they "want a peaceful settlement to the Kashmir dispute." The primary object of the march was to call for an immediate end to Kashmir's occupation by the Indian army.