Violent clashes broke out in the Valley and others parts of Kashmir after authorities on Friday arrested hardcore separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat on charges of leading an anti-India rally in Srinagar two days ago. The authorities also foiled separatists’ proposed protest march to south Kashmir’s Tral town where death of two youngsters allegedly in a fake encounter sparked unrest since Monday.
The Mufti Government cracked the whip on the separatists after Home Minister Rajnath Singh did some tough talking on Thursday and asked the Chief Minister to act against the separatists. Alam’s Zaindar Mohalla residence in old part of Srinagar was cordoned off late on Thursday night, but he was formally taken into custody on Friday morning, when a contingent of police officers whisked him away to Shaheedganj police station. He was the shifted to Budgam, where first information report was registered against him on Wednesday.
Alam’s arrest ended his controversial 40-day freedom, which came after Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed ordered his release on March 7, a week after the PDP-BJP coalition took over in Jammu & Kashmir. The BJP took strong exception to Masarat’s release, blaming him to be the architect of 2010 anti-India uprising in Kashmir. However, despite the protests from BJP even at the Prime Minister’s level, the Government did not re-arrest him until a fresh case was registered.
The authorities said that Alam was arrested for raising anti-national slogans and leading a crowd that hoisted Pakistani flags during a rally organised by separatists to welcome Syed Ali Geelani who arrived from New Delhi on April 15. “During investigation, the video footage of the incident was examined and it was found that Masarat Alam was involved in leading the crowd to raise anti-national slogans and hoist Pakistani flags. He himself was found raising such slogans thus instigating the crowd to follow him,” an official statement said.
“In this rally, provocative and seditious slogans were raised by the supporters of the group which were led among others by Masarat Alam Bhat. Alam himself instigated the crowd by hoisting anti-national flags and shouting pro-Pak and anti-India slogans. An FIR No. 92/15 under Sections 13 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 120-B, 147,341,336,427 RPC was registered in Budgam police station and investigation into the matter was been taken up”, the statement added.
Shortly after Alam’s arrest, BJP’s top leadership in J&K triumphantly appeared on news channels to declare that anti-national elements will not be tolerated. Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Central Government would not tolerate secessionist elements and declared Alam’s arrest as a step in right direction. He said J&K is a sensitive State for which BJP founders like Shyama Prasad Mukerjee have laid down their lives.
Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh also expressed resolve to take on “anti-national elements”. Sources said that Chief Minister Sayeed was under tremendous stress to arrest Alam after the Union Home Minister spoke to him on phone on April 15 evening. Rajnath Singh had asked Mufti to take the strictest action against the people involved in anti-India sloganeering.
The arrest is first major embarrassment to Mufti, who is seeking to embark on a softer policy towards separatists to offset the negative impact of his alliance with the BJP. Mufti had gained many a brownie points in the Valley after releasing Alam from five-year incarceration. President of PDP’s youth wing Waheed Parra denied reports suggesting that Alam was re-arrested on the directions from the Centre and buckling under the Home Ministry’s pressure. He said Alam has been arrested under procedure and the Chief Minister had declared that law would take its own course.
“Masarat Alam is not arrested under pressure; he has been arrested under procedure. There are charges filed against him in the Budgam police station”, Parra said. “The law is taking its own course, this is nothing to do with the politics, or from the Home Minister’s pressure or the Chief Minister’s pressure,” he added.
Meanwhile, demonstrations were held in various parts of Kashmir including old Srinagar and south Kashmir’s restive Tral pocket where two youngsters were killed in an alleged fake encounter on Monday last. The Army claimed that one of the slain youngsters was an over-ground worker of Hizbul Mujahideen while the other had joined militant ranks recently after making an abortive attempt on the life of a former militant.
Massive protests were held in Tral after the bodies were recovered from Buchoo-Kamla forest on two consecutive days after the firing incident took place on Monday (April 13) afternoon. The separatists had called for a march towards Tral on Friday where shutdown and restrictions continue since April 14. The authorities foiled the proposed march by putting most of separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Shabir Shah and Nayim Khan under house-arrest. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq led a protest demonstration in Srinagar’s Grand Mosque area.
A police spokesman said that situation remained by and large peaceful across the Valley with the exception of stray incidents of stone pelting reported from Nowhatta, Gojwara, Malarata and Khwaja Bazar in Srinagar and in Tral town. Three civilians and 21 policemen, including a SHO, sustained minor injuries. Sources said that Tral town was virtually besieged with heavy contingents of police and paramilitaries deployed to seal all entry and exit points towards the town. The media contingents were not allowed to enter into the area.
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has called for a complete shutdown against Tral killings on Saturday. lashing out at Mufti Government a spokesman for Geelani’s Hurriyat said that Mufti wanted to befool the general public by his “sweet words” and was trying to project himself as a “pro-Kashmir” politician but “the innocent killings in Tral at the hands of Indian forces and his poor response to this inhuman act miserably exposed him and his claims before the public”.
“The Jammu & Kashmir is actually directly ruled by the Indian Home Ministry and Army and either it is Omer Abdullah or Mufti Sayed as Chief Minister, their status here in Kashmir is just that of a show-boy,” he alleged.