‘Quit J&K’ assumes form of 2008-type agitation

Youths fan out on motorbikes, enforce shutdown, check I-cards, organize protests

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jul 15: Running into its second month now, current spell of turbulence in Kashmir valley today assumed trappings of 2008-type mass agitation as hundreds of youngsters on motorcycles fanned out in different directions and enforced Hurriyat-sponsored shutdown while checking photo identity cards, deflating tyres of the vehicles in movement, confining motorists for hours and organizing anti-India and pro-Azadi demonstrations at several places. With the tension intensifying on the eve of Hurriyat’s call of march to Batmaloo, Government has formed a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) in a desperate attempt to prevent the situation from further deterioration.

After days of lukewarm response to the separatists’ protest calendar and “Quit Jammu & Kashmir Movement”, initially floated by the detained hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Kashmir valley today witnessed total shutdown. Even as Police are estimated to have arrested around 300 youth under allegation of stone pelting and harassing common people in the last one week of turbulence, bureaucrats and politicians have secured release of over a hundred of such detainees. Unfazed by action from Police, pro-Azadi crowds brought the Valley to standstill.

“We have now stopped arresting and detaining the people involved in fomenting trouble. As soon we detain a stone pelter on the basis of recorded video evidence, we begin receiving orders of his release from Ministers, MLAs, MLCs and senior bureaucrats”, said a Senior Superintendent of Police. According to him, almost all of such calls were coming from leaders of the ruling National Conference (NC), particularly an Advisor to Chief Minister as also officials working in Chief Minister’s Secretariat. Three of the SSPs, however, maintained that they had no adverse intervention from the proper channel of command and control.

SSP Srinagar has already got 90 motorcycles seized from different places in the capital city. Over a hundred youth have been arrested and detained at different Police stations. Besides, a mechanism has been put in place to collect concrete evidence of the detainees’ involvement in stone pelting and attacks on Police, CRPF, vehicles and public properties. As many as 25 fresh video cameras have been procured and distributed among all SHOs in the capital city who have been getting all attacks, incidents of stone pelting and demonstrations recorded through specially trained staff. SSP Srinagar has also frozen powers of releasing the detainees from all SHOs as some of the officials were found excessively vulnerable to interference from politicians and a few of them had been committing extortion in the process of detaining and releasing the youth under different charges.

With the politicians and bureaucrats exerting tremendous pressure on Police and asking them “not to create any more scene”, young followers of the separatist leaders today enjoyed a field day in the capital city as well as in countryside. Even as thousands of people responded voluntarily to the separatists’ call and they organized sit-in demonstrations on the streets in their respective residential localities, hundreds of youth fanned out on motorcycles in different directions today and enforced total shutdown. For the first time in the current spell of turbulence, they operated in Civil Lines, normally calm uptown neighbourhoods and even the tourism-dominated Dalgate-Harwan Road in high security zone. Consequently, all shops and other business establishments remained closed and attendance was extremely thin in government offices.

Reports said that the youth locked all petrol pumps, occupied junctions, checked identity cards in search of Policemen and government officials, deflated tyres of the vehicles in movement, confined motorists for hours and humiliated many of them publicly for defying the call of shutdown. Law and order machinery appeared to have no control on the situation. Reports said that even students, patients and medical staff were not allowed to make any movement. “What security forces did to enforce curfew for three days, separatist forces are doing today to enforce shutdown”, observed a motorist Muneer Hussain who was detained at a spot for over an hour.

In a statement, issued though internet, Dukhtaraan-e-Millat Chairperson, Asiya Andrabi asked J&K Police to part with the “occupational Indian forces”, perform atonement (Tauba) and “join our Jammu Kashmir Chhordou movement”. She warned them that they would have to quit the state alongwith Indian armed forces if they continued to work against the “popular mass movement”. She asked the Kashmiris to act on Hurriyat G’s call of Batmaloo Chalo on Friday and stage demonstrations at their respective Tehsil and district headquarters. She emphasized that all participants must be shrouded in white. Separatists have decided to organize a massive condolence meeting to pay homage to four residents of Srinagar who died in Police action on Sunday and Monday last.

Nevertheless, thousands of people in downtown Srinagar, Baramulla, Sopore, Anantnag and several other places observed shutdown voluntarily. As desired by Mr Geelani and his lieutenants, participants squatted on mats and carpets on the streets in their neighbourhoods. They carried placards demanding “Azadi”. “Azadi ka matlab kya, la illaha illalla”, was boldly written on most of their placards. They also shouted anti-India, anti-forces, anti-Government, pro-Azadi and pro-Islam slogans. Most of them stressed that it was not a human rights complaint to the authorities but the “popular demand of freedom”. They call it “Quit Jammu & Kashmir Movement”.

Omar Abdullah government is increasingly losing control on the fast deteriorating situation. Informed sources revealed to Early Times that NC President and Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, had a two-hour-long meeting here with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah the other day. Sources said that even after a coalition meeting, followed by all-party meeting, NC would be discussing current political turmoil in detail in a significant Working Committee Meeting here on July 22nd and 23rd. Change of President and General Secretary is said to be a key subject of discussion.

Meanwhile, Government has formulated a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) today to deal with the current turbulence and its impact on the services and systems.

Official sources said that later this evening, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took stock of the prevailing situation in the Valley at a high-level meeting of Ministers at his Gupkar Road residence.

Chief Minister appealed the people to extend their full cooperation to the Government in restoring complete normalcy in the Valley as the common man including traders, transporters, hoteliers, shikarawalas, patients, students etc were suffering badly due to constant strike calls by various organizations.

Later, the Minister for Rural Development, Ali Mohammad Sagar and Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, said that the Government would ensure all possible measures for ensuring hassle-free movement of people on the auspicious occasion of Friday following Meraj-ul-Alam tomorrow.

The Ministers said that in extreme situations, the Government was constrained to impose restrictions to protect the life and property. They said that the elements found involved in creating disturbances and vitiating the atmosphere would be appropriately dealt with under law---an indication of curfew and restrictions in Srinagar tomorrow.

END