Thirty-four persons sustained injuries on Tuesday when a gathering of nearly 5,000 candidates at an Army’s recruitment rally near the LoC in Kupwara district in northern Kashmir turned violent over “changes” in the eligibility criteria and the police and security forces opened fire.
Informed sources in Kupwara said thousands of candidates from all over the valley had gathered at Tanghdar for recruitment to 25 vacancies of soldiers in a local battalion of Territorial Army [TA]. As the screening and physical standards measurement began at 6.30 a.m. at Chhamkot, the TA selectors declared eligible only the Matriculates with over 45% per cent marks. The candidates alleged that the local TA officials had hired “non-candidates” for the test and many of them were being selected by way of “impersonation.”
Heated exchanges snowballed into a mayhem when groups of angry candidates attacked two military formations while raising anti-India and anti-Army slogans. The Army fired in the air and called the Police to deal with the law and order problem. Sources said 34 persons — 22 candidates, eight policemen and four soldiers — sustained injuries.
Defence spokesman Col. N.N. Joshi told The Hindu that the damage caused to the camp was “insignificant.” “Army used only blank rounds to scare away the violent candidates.
