Clashes engulf entire Srinagar; shutdown in Valley
Soz, Nazir, Kamaal, Shameema lecture Omar on restraining Police and forces

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Show cause notices slapped
on cable TV operators
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AHMED ALI FAYYAZ

SRINAGAR, Feb 2: Taking full advantage of the state government’s increasing pressure on the beleaguered Police and security forces, Hurriyat Conference and all other separatist groups today enforced near-total shutdown in Kashmir valley over the death of a 15-year-old student even as nearly a hundred people, including 40 Police and CRPF personnel, sustained injuries in ding dong clashes that engulfed this capital city besides Anantnag and Baramulla towns. With the separatist groups already spewing fire over the Police action, a number of leaders in the coalition government constituents---notably J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Prof Saif-ud-din Soz, NC General Secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmed, another Sheikh family scion Dr Mustafa Kamaal and the lately appointed Chairperson of State Commission of Women, Shameema Firdaus---today began lecturing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on “restraining Police and security forces from using excessive force on innocent civilians”.

That the situation was threatening to go out of hand--- somewhat like the Amarnath land row in 2008 and the ruckus over alleged rape-cum-murder of two young woman in 2009---was evident from the fact that Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar, Meraj Ahmed Kakroo, today slapped notices on the local cable TV networks, asking them to desist from playing “objectionable” images of demonstrations and clashes between the people and armed forces. “We have observed grave violations of Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and the broadcasting code. We have issued show cause notices to the operators, asking them why their networks be not closed down under law. They have been repeatedly violating the law and their agreements with the district administration”, DC Srinagar told Early Times.

Over a call of “civil curfew”, issued simultaneously by both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, and supported by many other separatist groups, Kashmir valley today observed a near-total shutdown to protest the “killing” of a 15-year-old student, Wamiq Farooq Wani, in tearsmoke shelling of Srinagar Police on a stone pelting group of youngsters in Rajouri Kadal area in the capital city interior on Sunday last. In contrast to a poorer response to the call in the forenoon, most of the shops and business establishments were found closed in the afternoon. Few vehicles were seen operating on different roads. Attendance was thin in government offices, banks and other private and government establishments as scores of incidents of stone pelting on all modes of vehicular traffic took place in Srinagar and the major rural district headquarters of Baramulla and Anantnag.

Stone pelting on Police and CRPF, anti-India and pro-Azadi slogan shouting and ding dong clashes between the two sides, that had remained restricted to few downtown localities in the last few weeks, spread to almost entire capital city today. DC Srinagar and senior Police officials maintained that the situation was “tense but under control”. They confirmed that heavy Police and paramilitary bandobust had been put in place to maintain order. According to them, a large number of government offices functioned with thick attendance. Reports from Wamiq Farooq’s residential locality of Rainawari said that Police and CRPF enforced an undeclared curfew, though they did not prevent a many residents and separatist leaders, including Shabir Ahmed Shah, from visiting the bereaved family.

Reports available from varied sources indicated that stone pelting, retaliation from Police and CRPF and other clashes between the people and armed forces took place at about 40 spots in the capital city. For a change today, such clashes also occurred in the relatively little disturbed uptown localities of Tergpora, Batmaloo, Lalchowk, Ram Bagh, Natibagh, Baghat Barzullah, and Hyderpora. On few occasions, stone pelting groups targeted two-way traffic on Srinagar-Airport Road and National Highway Bypass. Unruly groups burned rubber tyres at several places to create barriers for the vehicular traffic and richer visuals for media.

“Police and CRPF displayed exemplary restraint today also and used minimum force to restore peace and order. 12 Police and CRPF personnel received injuries out of which a Constable Parvaiz Ahmad received head injury and is being treated at SKIMS Soura” a press release from Zonal Police Headquarters said and claimed that majority of the people cooperated with the authorities and stayed away from today’s clashes and demonstrations. However, unofficial reports put the number of injured in today’s clashes at “around 100”. According to these reports, SHO Kothibagh, Inspector Shafeeq Ahmed, was among 30b J&K Police and 15 CRPF personnel who sustained injuries in today’s clashes in Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag.

Situation turned remarkably tense when a crowd of more than 100 youngsters targeted a VIP vehicle at Barzullah as it was on way from Airport to Civil Lines. Police swung into action with baton charge, tearsmoke shelling and firing in air to scare away the demonstrators and rescue the vehicle. Police and CRPF similarly swung into action with controlled force at Gojwara in downtown Srinagar when a mob captured a CRPF vehicle, damaged it with heavy stone pelting, overturned it and attempted to set it on fire. Officials said that two CRPF and 6 Police vehicles were damaged in today’s clashes. They said that at least 30 civilian vehicles were badly damaged at different trouble spots by the stone pelting groups.

Finding itself on the receiving end of criticism from mainstream opposition parties as well as all separatist organizations, coalition government today exposed itself to an assault from within. Significantly enough, rather than counseling the Chief Minister privately, JKPCC chief, Prof Saif-ud-din Soz, issued a statement, asking Mr Omar Abdullah to enforce restraint among his Police and armed forces.

Asserting that such incidents were “avoidable”, Prof Soz called for a ‘high level inquiry” into the student’s death and demanded termination of services of the personnel allegedly responsible for it.

“I express my deep anguish over the death of 13 year old student Wamiq Farooq Wani, who was hit by a tear smoke shell at Gojwara and breathed his last in SKIMS. I had said on earlier unfortunate occasions like this that Law Enforcing Agencies must understand casualties like this are totally unacceptable to the civil society. It is a fact known to everybody that such incidents can always be avoided. The least that the Government should to is to institute a high level enquiry and summarily remove from service the official responsible for this unfortunate death of innocent boy. I strongly urge the State Administration to take a serious view of this unfortunate incident so that such incidents do not occur in future”, Prof Soz said in his statement.

In a more significant development, NC’s General Secretary, Sheikh Nazir Ahmed, another scion of the Sheikh dynasty and MLA of Hazratbal, Dr Mustafa Kamal and the newly appointed Chairperson of the State Commission of Women and MLA Habbakadal, Shameema Firdaus, condemned the young student’s “killing” by Police in their publicly issued statements and urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to ensure that his Police and paramilitary forces observed restraint in such matters.

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