Tarigami proposes all-party MPs panel to talk to Kashmiris
‘Inaction on working groups recommendations has discredited Delhi in Srinagar’

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jul 25: State Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and third-time MLA from Kulgam, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, has stressed on the need of engaging the young rebels of Kashmir valley in a credible process of dialogue. According to the proposal he claims to have submitted to Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the UPA Chairperson, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Government of India must constitute a committee of different political parties’ Members of Parliament and authorize it to talk to all shades of opinion including the Kashmiri youngsters involved in demonstrations, stone pelting and clashes with Police and paramilitary forces.

Addressing a news conference here after holding a series of meetings with the Central leadership---including Prime Minister, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram---Tarigami expressed serious concern over the current phase of turmoil in Kashmir. He said that Government of India had demonstrated considerable complacency and ignored the dissent in Valley, particularly so after the Assembly elections of mass participation in 2008. He said it was unfortunate that both, state as well as the central government, had lost the faith and confidence shown by people in the governmental system.

Tarigami said that there was need to urgently engage the “disillusioned and alienated” younger generation of the Kashmiris in a credible talks process . He proposed Government of India to immediately constitute a committee of the MPs from all political parties for this purpose. He asserted that a dialogue process conducted by the Parliamentarians’ panel was expected to achieve results better than a process conducted by government officials or political leaders of a particular party or coalition.

“Be that an NDA government or UPA government, they invariably remain wary of the support from the Opposition and fail to get desired results of a political process. In case there are Parliamentary representatives of all parties in the committee, there will be no apprehension of opposition from any political opinion”, Tarigami contended. He revealed that during his meetings with the Central leaders, he had brought it home to the Centre that any more complacency on the Kashmir conflict could have disastrous consequences. He claimed that both, Dr Singh and Mrs Ganndhi, listened to him with rapt attention and gave him indications of a positive reaction.

Tarigami said that the trust deficit between New Delhi and Srinagar had widened to catastrophic proportions as nobody from the UPA government had taken any bold and substantive initiative to address the aspirations of the Kashmiris, particularly the younger generation. He admitted that the turbulence was not all about employment but pointed out that the unemployment depression was also a major contributory factor to the unrest in Valley. He said that nearly 600,000 unemployed youth had been counted in the state in recent past but the Government had committed to provide jobs to just 100,000 youth in the next five years.

With thousands of graduates and post graduates pouring in from colleges and universities every year, he asserted, the size of unemployed would simply remain intact. “There’s neither a public sector nor a private sector here”, Tarigami said and emphasized that the state government in coordination with the central government must create avenues and opportunities, directly as well as indirectly, to save the educationally and economically backward people in the state from total depression and frustration. He sought to make it repeatedly clear that there were also strong political aspirations, including Azadi, in different sections of the population which needed to be addressed in an all-inclusive dialogue process.

Tarigami held the Centre responsible for perpetuating and widening the trust deficit between New Delhi and Srinagar. He pointed out that NC’s autonomy resolution, passed by J&K Legislature, had been treated with contempt by one government and another government had been sleeping over the recommendations of five Working Groups constituted by no less a person than Prime Minister of India as part of his round-table initiative on Jammu & Kashmir. He said that nobody in the Centre had taken serious his own suggestion of offering safe passage to the Kashmiri youth, who had crossed the LoC but had not practiced violence. He urged the state government to remove the bar of disqualification from the youth who had once acted as militants but had later reformed themselves and had also been released by different courts of law.

CPI(M) leader also demanded amendment to J&K Armed Forces Special Powers Act for the militancy had ebbed to an all-time low. He said that there was a formidable demand to completely withdraw AFSPA but a beginning could well be made with certain amendments in the law. “Kashmir situation has become a huge industry of vested interest”, he said with implicit reference to men in armed forces, political establishment, civil society institutions and non-state actors and separatist politicians making fortunes in the conflict ever since 1990.

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16-year-old stone pelters reject 60-year-old militant’s advice
Hizb chief’s effigies burnt in Sopore; Hurriyat (G) issues fresh shutdown calendar

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jul 24: In continued absence of direction and leadership, young stone pelters have turned down Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salah-ud-din’s advice against enforcing endless shutdowns in the economically and educationally shattered Kashmir valley. While hardline supporters of the radical separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani have issued a fresh shutdown calendar, angry youngsters in Srinagar, Pulwama and Sopore have staged demonstrations against the Pakistan-based Kashmiri “Supreme Commander” of Hizbul Mujahideen, asking him not to damage their “freedom struggle” with “unwarranted moderation and unilateral flexibility”.

Official sources told Early Times that a group of 50 to 60 youth gathered on the streets in Chhaan Khann locality of Sopore in the forenoon today. Expressing their anger against Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salah-ud-din’s statement that the Kashmiris needed no more endless strikes, they resolved to continue their agitation under the banner of ‘Quit Jammu & Kashmir’. Sources said that the angry crowd bunt Hizb chief’s effigies but vanished quickly. An identical group, though thinner in size, came out on the streets in Nowhatta area of downtown Srinagar, burnt an effigy of the Hizb commander and shouted slogans.

The youngsters were heard yelling that the militant commander “enjoying life in Pakistan” was aware neither of the ground realities in Kashmir nor of the “peoples’ aspiration”. They too vowed to continue their agitation including enforcing shutdowns and stone pelting against Police and CRPF.

Later, a group of six masked men, believed to be in age group of 16 to 26 years, addressed a quickly organized press conference in close vicinity of Gandhi Memorial College in downtown Srinagar. They too expressed critical sentiments against the Hizbul Mujahideen chief’s “unwarranted moderation and unilateral flexibility” and declared that they would continue to enforce shutdowns “in the best interests of our freedom movement”.

This is first time that such groups appeared on the streets and for the first time in over 20 years somebody dared to burnt effigy of a senior militant commander. Speculation were in circulation for the whole day with regard to identity of these rebels as some people suspected them supporters of hardliners like Massarat Alam and Asiya Andrabi and quite a few took them as saboteurs planted by Police and intelligence agencies.

Sources said that after several days of undeclared curfew restrictions, there was no resistance to the pedestrian or vehicular traffic by Police or paramilitary forces in downtown Srinagar today. However, almost all shops and business establishments, besides banks and government offices, remained closed in downtown, as well as in Civil Lines marketplaces of Lalchowk, Maulana Azad Road, Hari Singh High Street and Residency Road, in accordance with the shutdown calendar in force since last week. Large number of shops were open in uptown localities where official and civilian traffic plied without any disruption but commercial traffic was off the road.

Reports said that some people also expressed their displeasure over the Hizbul Muhahideen chief’s statement at Kakapora, Pulwama, and asserted that shutdown should continue as it had, according to them “brought India on her kneels”.

According to reports available from rural district headquarters, shutdown was complete in half-a-dozen major towns but partial bandh was observed in most of the towns. A large number of government employees resumed their duties and shopkeepers their businesses after they read Hizbul Muhahideen chief’s statement in the morning newspapers today. Syed Salah-ud-din, in an interview to KNS yesterday, had advised the separatist leaders against calling any more endless strikes and instead forge unity.

Reports said that hundreds of people staged sit-in demonstrations in their residential localities in Baramulla in accordance with Hurriyat Geelani’s call issued last week. Reports of stone pelting and clashes came in from Kupwara, Sopore, Baramulla and few other localities. However, nobody was reported dead or injured in today’s clashes.

Meanwhile, hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, led by detained octogenarian leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, issued a fresh shutdown calendar in continuity of its “Quit Jammu & Kashmir” agitation. The outfit called upon the Kashmiris to observe total shutdown on July 26th, hold routine business on July 27th, arrange sin-in demonstrations on the streets in their neighbourhoods on July 28th and 29th, perform congregational Friday prayers in local mosques and stage demonstrations on July 30th, resume their usual business on full day on July 31st and observe yet another complete shutdown on August 1st.

The organization has also asked the Kashmiris to stop paying VAT, sales tax, electricity and water bills from July 28th. It has directed officials of PDD, PHE and Commercial Taxes Department not to collect any taxes from the people from July 28th and indicated that more departments would be included in due course of time.

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Hizb chief for a brake to infinite shutdowns

‘No dialogue with Delhi until (separatist) leadership unites on a joint platform’

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jul 23: With the Valley’s separatist leaders being in detention and the mainstream politicians proving themselves spineless before an anarchical upheaval, Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Syed Salah-ud-din has called for an end to infinite shutdowns in the economically shattered Kashmir. Operating from Pakistan as uncrowned king of the Kashmir militancy and head of the guerrilla alliance, United Jihad Council, since 1993, politician-turned-militant Salah-ud-din has, however, called upon the separatist leaders not to engage themselves in any political process with Government of India until creation of a joint platform.

Breaking the ice after three weeks of shutdown and curfew in Valley in a telephonic interview with the local news agency KNS, Syed Salah-ud-din asserted that the economically shattered Kashmiris could no more afford to continue endless strikes as they had already made invaluable sacrifices for the separatist movement. He urged the separatist leaders to bring relief to the Kashmiris by calling off endless shutdowns. “No movement can run without strategy and planning”, Hizb chief is quoted to have said.

Sixty-four-year old Hizb chief, who had contested and lost several Assembly elections before outbreak of militancy in 1989-90, has interestingly said that he had never dissociated himself with politics. “I have a masters in international politics and have been continuously involved with politics”, Salah-ud-din has said but justified the addition of gun into politics. According to him, politics sans gun had never forced formidable India to come down to earth in Jammu & Kashmir.

Significantly again, Salah-ud-din has advised the Valley’s separatist leaders against participating in any dialogue or political process with New Delhi until creation of a joint platform. He has asked them to unite and asserted that unification of the much disintegrated separatist leadership was the only answer to current spell of directionless agitation. Barring a couple of organizations, all of the Valley’s separatist political outfits and alliances have split into groups and factions, particularly after Hurriyat’s split into moderates and hardliners in 2003. According to him, certain people in Kashmir had the capability of uniting the separatists and they were all expected to play their role at this “extremely crucial stage of our freedom struggle”.

Operating from Pakistan since 1993, Salah-ud-din has also urged Islamabad not to engage in any dialogue with New Delhi at this stage and, instead, do its best to neutralize “the Indian propaganda” in the world forums.

While asserting that Kashmir was no more in need of endless strikes, Salah-ud-din has advised the separatist leaders to restrict their programme and demonstrations to limited district areas, for example Baramulla to Kupwara or Kulgam to Anantnag, so as to ensure that life was not crippled in rest of the Valley. “This is not a movement of three or four days. It’s a long drawn continuous process till a logical conclusion”, he is quoted to have argued.

“Supreme Commander” of formidable Hizbul Mujahideen since 1991 and Chairman of UJC for over ten years now, Salah-ud-din has also called upon militants to restrict their guerrilla activities to the borders and keep all areas of “mass movement” free of attacks and encounters. According to him, there was no need of guns and grenades in the hinterland as “our movement has smoothly passed on to the next generation”. He claimed that “85 percent” of the Valley’s youth and teenagers were now involved with the separatist movement and their current demonstrations and clashes with Police and armed forces were a proof to the world at large. In his interview, Hizb chief has justified stone pelting with his averment that it was the “only tool of resistance” with the unarmed Kashmiris.

“I’m sure this peoples’ revolution would open the eyes of Indian policy planners and force them to reframe their strategies”, he has said and ridiculed official claims of Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Toiba being behind the uprising. He also dismissed reports of infiltration of militants into J&K from Pakistan and asked what hundreds of the Indian troopers had been doing at their borders.

Like today, Salah-ud-din was the first person who had sought end to infinite strikes in Kashmir during Amarnath land allotment stir in 2008 with his argument that “85 percent” of the Kashmiris were those whose evening meals depend on their day’s labour.

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NC asks Govt to reverse decision of detaining separatists

Omar to continue as CM, Ministers as Ministers, Farooq as President, Nazir as Gen Secy

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jul 22: With the Government already reversing its decisions, one by one, in reshuffle after reshuffle in Police and civil administration, ruling National Conference (NC) today asked its own government to immediately reverse its recent decision of arresting Kashmir’s separatist activists. If not botched up by the Centre, it would straightaway mean release of all separatist leaders----Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Mian Abdul Qayoom and all others---as also hundreds of people detained under allegations of stone pelting in the last one month.

NC’s top decision making Central Working Committee, with almost all of its 22 permanent members, besides over a dozen permanent invitees and special invitees, today deliberated on the current political scenario in a seven-hour-long at the party President Dr Farooq Abdullah’s residence. Dr Abdullah, who presided over the meeting, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, NC’s General Secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmed, prominent Ministers, Abdul Rahim Rather, Ali Mohammad Sagar and Mian Altaf Ahmed, were present in the day-long session.

According to sources present in the present, most of the speakers stressed on “strengthening the party”, creating a congenial atmosphere for Government of India’s dialogue with the separatist leaders by way of releasing “all political detainees”, carrying out struggle for greater autonomy, providing relief to sufferers of current spell of turbulence besides launching a “visible and timebound employment package” for the jobless youth. They invariable expressed confidence in the leadership of party President, Dr Farooq Abdullah, General Secretary, Sheikh Nazir Ahmed, and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.


In his key address, Dr Abdullah said that the party rank and file had complete confidence in the leadership of “our young and dynamic Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Sahib”. He urged all members to strengthen the party as well as the coalition government. Setting aside speculations of changes in party and the government, Dr Abdullah said that he would continue as President of the party and Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister. He referred to yesterday’s high level AICC meeting and asserted that Congress high command as well as entire UPA government had conveyed their total support to the Chief Minister.

In response to a many speakers’ demand that he should spend more of his time in Srinagar and Jammu than in New Delhi, Dr Abdullah assured the meeting that the party would soon get traction with his personal presence and supervision of all urgent matters. He said that a five-member committee would assist him in all important matters. While asserting that the number of “hooligans” was not legion, Dr Abdullah asked NC leaders to fan out in their residential areas and reach out to majority of the people. He claimed that a decisive majority of the people in Kashmir valley was still in favour of peace and development and thus supporters of NC.

Speaking at the conclusion, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that Kashmir was essentially a political problem and its solution would have to be political. He said that, according to his party, one-odd political solution was restoration of greater autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir, as it existed till August 9th, 1953. He reiterated NC’s stated position that in case there was consensus on a better solution “acceptable to all sections of population in Jammu & Kashmir and to the country”, NC would appreciate it without hesitation.

Eight resolutions were passed in the meeting---first of its kind since Omar Abdullah was sworn in as Chief Minister and head of the ruling coalition in January last year. In its key resolution, NC demanded restoration of autonomy in his chaste form as it existed from 1947 to August 1953 and called it the most viable, practicable and imaginative solution of the Kashmir problem.

In yet another significant resolution, NC urged Omar Abdullah-led coalition government to reverse its recent decision of arresting and detaining separatist leaders and activists. It stressed on immediate release of all “political detainees”. While the meeting was underway, detained separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani was, first time since he was arrested under PSA on June 20th, shifted from his specially created jail lodgment at Cheshma Shahi to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura. He was admitted in ICCU. Informed sources revealed to Early Times that under pressure from the NC leadership, Government was asking Advocate General to pave the way of Geelani’s release by putting up minimum resistance during the hearing of his petition in the High Court.

Sources said that, on insistence of a Cabinet Minister, similar relief was likely to be extended to High Court Bar Association’s detained chief, Mian Abdul Qayoom, and many other separatist leaders. Monitoring the Centre’s reaction to this initiative, NC-led coalition government is now expected to stop detaining people under allegations of stone pelting and arson. Implementation of the resolution would lead to release of all the 300-odd people arrested, detained and being detained under PSA since last month. The resolution, nevertheless, stressed on the need to deal with the “hooligans and miscreants’ firmly but offered no elaboration.

In another resolution, NC urged its government to provide relief and compensation to all individuals and traders who had suffered losses in the wake of over month-long turbulence, curfew and shutdown. It also stressed on a visible and timebound employment package for over half-a-million unemployed youth. Speakers contended that disappointment among the mainstream cadres, who had enthusiastically participated in Assembly elections of 2008 as also in Lok Sabha elections of 2009, was a major reason behind the separatists and hooligans capturing considerable political space in Srinagar and few other towns in the Valley.

Dr Abdullah later briefed media about the decisions taken in today’s meeting. When a journalist wanted to know whether any Cabinet reshuffle was on the cards, Dr Abdullah argued that selection of Ministers was the exclusive prerogative of the Chief Minister. He suggested that there was immediately to possibility of any reshuffle in the Council of Ministers or key office bearers of his party.

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Delhi gets first politician to contest Geelani in Kashmir

With NC and PDP on one page of Hurriyat appeasement, Soz hits hard on stone pelters, hartal masters

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jul 21: With almost everybody in the ruling National Conference (NC) and the opposition PDP jostling to clinch a goodwill from the separatists, New Delhi has finally got a politician to contest hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s “politics of anarchy” in Kashmir valley. He is neither incumbent Chief Minister Omar Abdullah nor former Home Minister of India, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, but none other than the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s party chief in Jammu & Kashmir---Prof Saifuddin Soz.

After half-hearted statements against the cult of continued shutdown and anarchical agitation from a couple of mainstream politicians, Prof Soz today came to the forefront to assail the politics of chaos in unambiguous terms. While the PDP has understandably clung to its pseudo-separatist posturing and the ruling NC has become famous for Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar’s public strictures against CRPF and Army, not one in the major mainstream regional parties has asserted against the current hartal culture in Kashmir. Even the NC President and Union Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, according to well placed sources, has been under strict instructions from his party to remain tightlipped. NC and PDP, in fact, appear to be in a competition of India bashing and Hurriyat’s appeasement.

Rather than contesting hardline and extremist politics, both, NC and PDP have engaged themselves in five-times-a-day refrain of Kashmir being a “political problem”. They have been invariably holding New Delhi responsible for the current spate of turbulence with the contention that the UPA government at the Centre had snapped NDA-initiated dialogue with the Kashmiri separatists. Even Mr Soz’ s Congress, which is a partner in the ruling coalition, has remained a mute spectator to the political upheaval with its Ministers enjoying tours in Jammu, Ladakh and Delhi. Former J&K Chief Minister and now Union Minister of Health at the Centre, Ghulam Nabi Azad, known for his frontal attacks on the extremist politics and hardline icons, including Geelani, has also chosen ton remain in oblivion with regard to the situation in the Valley.


In an interview to local news agency Kashmir News Service, Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Prof Soz showed no hesitation in taking on the Valley’s hartal masters and stone pelters. Making the mainstream political camp’s first frontal attack on Hurriyat, Prof Soz said that the separatist leaders had pushed Kashmir to a quagmire of destruction. He said that the people who, according to him, had been enjoying meetings with Prime Minister in New Delhi, had been calling hartal on Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit to Kashmir. He said that the separatist leaders, as also all others involved in the cult of stone pelting, had held hostage entire population of over six million in Kashmir.

Soz accepted that Hurriyat and other separatists had a political agenda that, according to him, needed to be resolved on a table of dialogue with Government of India. He made an appeal to the detained hardliner, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, to mellow down his position and engage New Delhi in a political dialogue. He asserted that insurgency and anarchical agitation would never solve any problems.

“Those following the crowds can never become leaders. They have to assert as leaders and end this cult of directionless strikes”, Soz said of the separatist leaders. He asserted that stone pelting was “completely un-Islamic” and it had never been practiced by Muslims to achieve a goal. He said that those spearheading the mobocracy had pushed the Kashmiris to a quagmire of destruction as the masters of hartal had banned education in schools and issued threats to the children going to their schools. He said that even in Vietnam, schools had functioned without interference from freedom fighters.

Soz said it was “strange” that calling for shutdown had become everybody’s craze in the educationally and economically shattered Kashmir. He pointed out that the separatists had been calling such strikes even on the deaths happening in routine traffic accidents. Soz claimed that shopkeepers in the Valley were not in favour of any more bandh and they had downed their shutters for fear of the stone pelters. He also lashed out on the state government employees and said that these people had been enjoying sitting indoors as their salaries, sizably enhanced last year under 6th Pay Commission report, had been automatically piling up into their bank accounts without attending duties. “Government employees have developed the worst vested interest in hartal and stone pelting”, Soz said.

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2 DIGs, 7 SSPs shifted in Police reshuffle

Mansoor Unto is new SSP B’mulla, Wattali DIG Anantnag

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jul 19: In the wake of worsening security and law and order situation in Kashmir valley, Government tonight ordered yet another reshuffle in J&K Police. Two DIGs, seven SSPs and three Dy SPs were transferred and appointed on new places of posting.

Official sources told early Times that SSP Railway, Kashmir, Mansoor Ahmed Untoo was transferred and appointed as the new SSP in Baramulla in place of Sheikh Mehmood, who has been appointed as SSP Traffic (Srinagar city). SSP Traffic Srinagar city, Javed Riyaz Bedar, was transferred as SSP Special Branch, Kashmir, in place of Ghulam Hassan Bhat, who has been attached to Police Headquarters and would be posted separately later.

SSP Anantnag, Dr Shaukat Ahmed Malik, has been transferred and appointed as SSP Railway, Kashmir, in place of Mansoor Ahmed Untoo. SP Awantipore, Bashir Ahmed Khan, has been transferred and appointed as SSP Anantnag in place of Dr Shaukat Ahmed Malik. AIG Welfare, Mohammad Sayeed Panoo, has been transferred and appointed as SP Awantipore in place of Bashir Ahmed Khan.

DIG Security, Shafquat Wattali, has been transferred and appointed as DIG South Kashmir, with his headquarters at Anantnag, in place of Autar Singh Bali who has been shifted and appointed as Director Police Telecommunications.

In a separately issued order from Director General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda, Dy SP headquarters Baramulla, Sheikh Faisal, has been transferred and appointed as Dy SP Hqs Srinagar in place of Aziz Ahmed Khan, who has been transferred and appointed as Dy SP Headquarters Shopian. Dy SP Headquarters Shoopian, Shabir Ahmed Shah, has been transferred and appointed as Dy SP Headquarters in his hometown of Baramulla. Sources said that he has immediately refused to join in Baramulla with the argument that his posting in hometown could create security problems for his family.

SSP SB, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, according to sources was attached to Police Headquarters after he refused to join as SSP Baramulla. Consequently, SSP Railways, Mansoor Ahmed Untoo, was appointed as the new SSP in Baramulla.

Interestingly, with a couple of exceptions, most of the Police officers touched in today’s reshuffle had been appointed at their places of posting only recently.

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17th casualty is a bridegroom in Baramulla
Guards near DC’s office open fire on mob; SSP, Dy SP removed

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jul 19: Raising death toll of the youngsters, killed since June 11th in Police and CRPF firing, to 17, Police guards near Deputy Commissioner’s office in Baramulla today opened fire on a violent mob which was protesting death of a 13-year-old boy in the township on Saturday last. One person has died and several others sustained injuries in the shootout resultant stampede. With the garrison town turning tense afresh and the district headquarters reverberating with anti-India and pro-Azadi slogans, Government has immediately removed Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and Dy SP (Headquarters) as part of its damage control exercise alongwith yet another reshuffle in J&K Police.

Jinxed Baramulla town rose to a new boiling point when dead body of 13-year-old students, Faizan Rafeeq Buhroo S/o Mohammad Rafeeq Buhroo R/o Mohalla Jalal Sahab was spotted and recovered from river Jhulem near Gurudwara Chhati Padshahi at Kakkar Hamam this evening. As already reported, class 7th student, Faizan, had drowned during the course of a clash between an unruly mob and Police at Azad Bridge in Baramulla on July 17th evening. With the residents protesting his death and alleging that the boy had been pushed into the river by a Police party headed by a Dy SP and the Police claiming that he had drowned over 200 yards away from their position, Faizan’s dead body was recovered after 48 hours of his drowning this evening. Army boats and Navy divers conducted extensive search in the river and finally fished out the body this evening.

Informed sources told Early Times that a procession of nearly 2,000 people carried the dead body all the way to DC’s office while shouting anti-India, pro-Azadi and pro-Islam slogans. As the procession halted at R&B Divisional office and restricted its expression to the demand of removing some Police officials, besides, registration of a murder case against them, DC Baramulla, Bashir Ahmed Bhat, and Special Commissioner North Kashmir, Mohammad Sayeed Khan, assured a representative delegation “urgent action” and motivated the angry demonstrators to conduct the boy’s funeral.

When part of the procession was returning to old town and it was negotiating a bridge, another mob of over 3,000 men and women was spotted heading towards DC’s office. Within minutes, over 5,000-strong crowd converged on the premises of DC’s office-cum-residence. On this point of time, one of the Police guards reportedly opened fire when angry youngsters began attacking structures. Another mob began rushing towards Minister of State for R&B Javed Ahmed Dar’s official house, apparently to set on fire SPO Kaka Mir’s quarters.

One youth, who was later identified as 25-0year-old Fayaz Ahmed Khanday S/o Ghulam Mohammad Khanday R/o Dandmoh, Kreeri, got killed and few others sustained injuries. Authoritative sources insisted that the guard opened fire when men in the crowd began attacking structures and attempted to set these on fire. Residents, however, maintained that they were simply shouting slogans to press their demand of removal of Dy SP, disengagement and arrest of SPO Kaka Mir and registration of a murder case against them.

SSP at Police Control Room Srinagar, Javed Farooqui, said that one person, namely Fayaz Ahmed Khanday, was declared as dead at District Hospital of Baramulla and another civilian, namely Ghulam Mohammad Gujri of Mohalla Jalal Sahab, was admitted to SMHS Hospital with a gunshot wound in his hip. He said that immediately there was no information of any one else having sustained gunshot wounds, even as some people had reportedly sustained injuries in the resultant stampede. Local news agency KNS reported that one civilian got killed and 25 others sustained injuries in the shootout and the stampede.

Residents said that 25-year-old Fayaz Ahmed Khanday was a resident of Dandmoh village in Kreeri belt of Baramulla district. He was working as a cook at a hotel in the town. They said that his wedding had taken place three weeks ago at his in-laws’ house in Binner village of Rafiabad where he had decided to live for life. They said that Faizan Rafeeq Buhroo’s burial took place late tonight in his locality but Khanday’ funeral was likely to be conducted tomorrow as none of his relatives from Kreeri and Rafiabad had reached Baramulla till late tonight.

With today’s death in the Police shootout, as many as 17 youth have died in different incidents of firing and teargas shelling by Police and CRPF in Kashmir valley during the current spell of turmoil since June 11th.

Late night reports said that people were shouting pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans and asking residents of Baramulla to gather on the streets to register their strong protest against the two killings in the last three days. Groups of youngsters were seen burning rubber tryres on the streets at different places. Authorities were reportedly in control of the situation in Civil Lines and other peaceful neighbourhoods in the garrison town while as thick crowds of angry people had completely captured old town localities across river Jhelum.

In hectic developments, Government disengaged and arrested the main accused SPO Kaka Mir and also removed Dy SP Headquarters Sheikh Faisal from Baramulla tonight. Government also ordered transfer of newly appointed SSP Sheikh Mehmood who had been earlier hospitalized after suffering a cardiac problem. He has been appointed as SSP Traffic (Srinagar City) in place of lately appointed Javed Riyaz Bedar.

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