Army being inducted for proactive role to fail Geelani offensive

‘Miscreants’ being rounded up; no relaxation in curfew till Sep 25

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Sep 15: Beleaguered Omar Abdullah government has finally decided to induct regular Army for a proactive role to fail separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s plan of organizing mass demonstrations in front of military formations in Kashmir valley on September 21. With Mr Geelani adding fresh intensity to his ‘Quit Jammu & Kashmir Movement’, authorities have significantly decided to continue curfew without any relaxation till September 25th.

In hours of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking the state government to restore order, Early Times learned that General Officer Commanding Srinagar-based 15 Corps and Security Advisor to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Lt Gen N C Marwah, called a meeting of senior military, paramilitary and Police officials, to review the latest obtaining security situation in Kashmir valley. Main agenda of discussion, according to well-placed authoritative sources, was the Hurriyat (G) Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s call, asking the Kashmiris to stage protest demonstrations in front of all military formation in the Valley on September 21st.

Senior officials from Army, CRPF, BSF, including GOCs of Kilo Force and Victor Force, besides DGP, Kuldeep Khoda, several IGPs and ADG Law & Order, K Rajindra Kumar, participated in the meeting. Such kind of meeting, if attended and chaired by Chief Minister, are known as Unified Headquarters meetings. However, Chief Minister was not present in the meeting this evening.

“The meeting discussed the measures to effectively counter the protest calendar issued by the Hurriyat and formulated a detailed joint strategy to restore normalcy in Kashmir. The strategy will be implemented with immediate effect”, said a press release from Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing) late tonight. It did not elaborate on the decisions taken in the meeting.

However, informed sources revealed to this newspaper that with necessary approval from Chief Minister, it was decided in the meeting that Army would play a “proactive role” in enforcement of curfew from Sep 18th to Sep 25th, providing all possible assistance to J&K Police, so as to ensure that there was no concentration of civilians around the security forces’ camps on the day of Mr Geelani’s call or thereafter. Sources said that in view of fresh security concerns, arising out of Geelani’s offensive, authorities today decided to continue curfew without any relaxation all over the Valley till September 25th.

If sources are to be believed, telephones of over a thousand ‘potential threats’ have been put on surveillance and a large number of “miscreants” are being rounded up right from tonight in a massive crackdown in the Valley. A manhunt has been launched to arrest the most wanted Muslim League chief, Massarat Alam, Hurriyat (Geelani) activist, Imtiyaz Hyder, and several others.

Sources said, for the first time, authorities were also planning a major crackdown on Internet users who have been uploading “objectionable videos” and posts on social networking sites, particularly FaceBook and YouTube. A notification issued the other day warned that defaulters booked under Information Technology Act and ordinary Ranbir Penal Code would be liable for imprisonment upto three years.

Meanwhile, on the 4th consecutive day today, entire Kashmir valley reeled under curfew without relaxation. Srinagar and few other district headquarters were by and large peaceful and under control of the law enforcement authorities. Officials said that unruly groups violated curfew at more than 20 places across the Valley and engaged Police and paramilitary forces in ding dong clashes. Two official vehicles were torched in Shirmal area of Shopian.

A mob of over 1,000 people from three villages cordoned and attacked National Conference Kashmir Province President Ali Mohammad Dar’s residential village of Dooniwara in Chadoura Tehsil of Budgam district, second time today. Angry over yesterday’s resistance offered to the group at Dooniwara, the mob in broad daylight torched haystacks, damaged peripheral houses and set on fire standing paddy crops spread over hundreds of Kanals of agricultural land while shouting anti-India and pro-Azadi slogans.

Police rushed to the tense village and dispersed the miscreants. An official source said that leader of the mob turned out to be the Halqa President of PDP, namely Ali Mohammad Dar of Zolwa village, who was arrested on the spot. The CRPF-guarded NC leader said that the mob could not reach his house as there was stiff resistance to it from over 2,000 of his fellow villagers.

Meanwhile, a multitude of people gathered at Khushal Matoo locality in Sopore township this evening and launched an attack on a CRPF camp. In the thick of clashes, CRPF opened fire. One person, namely Mudassar Ahmed Kanna, got killed.

SP Sopore, Altaf Khan, told Early Times that immediately thereafter, two militants, both carrying sophisticated AK-74 rifles, fired around 30 gunshots on a Police party from poppy plants at the graveyard near Main Chowk. However, none of the targeted personnel were hit as they ducked immediately. He said that the militants rushed into the crowds and Police could not strike on them for fear of civilian casualties.

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