Three people were killed and over 100 injured in fresh violence in many parts of the Kashmir Valley on Friday. Thousands of people remained on streets engaging the police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) till last reports came in.
Two people were killed as CRPF opened fire on protesters at Amargarh, near Sopore in north Kashmir.
After Friday prayers
Eyewitnesses told The Hindu over the phone that people were protesting after the Friday prayers against the disappearance of 17-year-old Farak Bashir of Kreeri, allegedly in police custody a few days ago. When they moved towards the railway line, security forces tried to stop them. When they moved ahead, the forces opened fire.
Informed sources said Mohmmad Ahsan Ganai and Showkat Ahmad Chopan died of bullet injuries while on way to hospital. This led to strong protests in the area and the police were battling mobs till late in the evening.
In the neighbouring Pattan, the police and the CRPF opened fire on protesters when they marched to the police station and set ablaze a building and a vehicle. At least 10 people received bullet injuries and one of them died in hospital.
Ten more people were injured in the clashes. The area was tense and the police were trying to impose curfew.
At least 20 people were injured in Kreeri, where people protested against the disappearance of Bashir. They attacked a local police camp and the CRPF resorted to tear-gas shelling. Some of the injured were stated to be critical.
Baramulla town also witnessed protests and at least 10 people were injured in clashes. Hundreds of people gheraoed a police post in Choora-Patukhah and tried to set it on fire, but the police retaliated and scores of people were injured.
Earlier in the morning, clashes broke out in the uptown locality of Chanpora, where a few hundred people took to the streets and clashed with the police and the CRPF.
To control the mob, the security forces opened fire and four youths received bullet injuries. Of them, one was stated to be battling for his life in the S.K. Institute of Medical Sciences.
In Tral town in south Kashmir, over 30 people were injured in clashes with the police and the situation was stated to be tense.
Curfew
Police imposed curfew in Srinagar downtown on Friday to foil the “Maisuma Chalo” call of the hard-line faction of the Hurriyat Conference. But the curfew was defied at many places.
The sources said the authorities were trying to re-impose curfew. However, District Magistrate, Srinagar, Meraj Kakroo, said that only Section 144 was being enforced.
No top official was available for comments on the situation. The sources said the government was perturbed over the deteriorating situation, which has left more people dead, threatening to further deepen the crisis.
Comments:
Kashmir is burning and no one cares.Every one is blaming one another and no one knows when this blamegame ends.kashmiri's are suffering lot from both sides and they just want peace.It's high time to take responsibility and work for peace.
Why can these security forces not control themselves?! We can argue that stone-throwers are giving our jawaans no choice, but why could the British Army laregly contain themselves in Northern Ireland when thousands of Catholic youths would pelt the soldiers with not only bricks and stones, but also firebombs/molotov cocktails? Why can the Israelis refrain from gunning down Palestinians in their daily protests? Why is it that only the Indian Army and police open fire on unarmed protestors? Have our security forces ever heard of this thing called Tear Gas?
Look, the situation has gotten so out of hand, that even elderly women are pelting our boys!
The inaction of Govt. is only going to result in further bloodshed. The excellent research by 'The Hindu' already established the source of the trouble. The separatists are now using public disinformation for unrest instead of their conventional weapons. By being silent the Govt. is only leading the situation to more ruin. THis will also have a much bigger implication across India as the Maoists too would try to use the weakness of the Govt. towards of their advantage. If the politicians think they are playing vote-bank politics, they should understand that they are doing it only for their detriment.
The situation in Kashmir is still containable but requires a determination and courage. First, the Government should order an crack down empowering the AFSPA and neutralise the separatists and their supporters with iron hand. Any lineancy in this case will only result in the further bloodshed of innocent civilians. To deter further gravitation of masses towards separatists ideals, the Govt. has no options but to reinstate its covert operations targeting the handlers on the other side of the border while also targeting other spots that makes the Asymmetric warfare too expensive for Pakistan. But still, there is a possibility for unrest which is due to the isolation of the state under the Special State status which curbs the employment and the economic development of the state. Without a multi-pronged approach the problem is not going to be solved and the GOI should understand that India's groveling at the foot of the super-powers to contain Pakistan has resulted only in more bloodshed and more rhetoric and not in any tangible change and there is no reason to believe in the contrary for the future. The question currently facing the GOI and the nation is whether the GOI has the determination and courage to do what it should do?
This should be modified
Violence never ends unless it remove at the beginning
kashmir is a political issue and it needs an early solution.
Your site is best site to know every thing which is going on these daays.
Shame on Indian government and armed forces! They call it democracy. What a joke! Both internal security and the border security is filled with corruption and human rights violation.
I can only pray for the people of valley, because our political leaders don't seem to be serious about bringing down peace to valley. They are living luxurious life even in the conditions when valley is burning.I strongly feel that Omar abdullah should resign immediately .
The central Government is responsible for the current happenings in jammu and kashmir.The have kept their eyes closed and are now mislead by the ruling N.C party for their vested interests to save the chair.Come what may the killings of innocent kashmiri is least bothered by the ruling party.
I think people of kashmir are taking this matter very seriously.They should think that the more protests they take out, the more people are killed.If they won't stop; majority of people in kashmir will turn to minority. And it's obivious the more protestors, the more CRPF.They can't blame Omar Abdullah for this. If a majority of person attack the policemen by throwing stones they have to protect themselves and they are protecting themselves in anyway: by using stone, sticks, tear-gas, firing etc. I am not saying kashmiri's are wrong but they should prepare aa well-developed plan of getting freedom so that more people get killed....
the current situation in kashmir velly is fully supported by local politicians and local youths are diverted and motivaited wrongly to participate in the issueless agitation. from current situation in the velly locals are sufring alot and even locals donot want this prevailing situation any more in the velly. the killings of peoples in this situation is justifide in presonnel defence as they all are taking law and orders in their hands