Massive protests erupted in capital Srinagar and south Kashmir’s Kulgam and lethpora areas on Wednesday following the killing of two more civilians—a 20-year-old ATM guard and 30-year-old truck driver—on the 26 th day of continued turmoil that began after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.
The ATM guard Riyaz Ahmad Shah was returning home late on Tuesday evening when security forces intercepted him. He was allegedly beaten up before pellet gun was fired at him from a point blank range. The autopsy conducted on Shah revealed that 360 pellets had been embedded in his body. Shah was posted at Kanikadal area to man an ATM kiosk and was returning home late in the evening on two-wheeler when he was waylaid by the security forces near a check-post. Shah’s body was held by police till late on Wednesday morning triggering widespread anger in the old parts of capital Srinagar.
Hundreds of residents defied curfew in the old city to join the funeral. He was laid to rest at martyr’s Graveyard in Eidgah locality where most of the militants and civilians killed in Srinagar during past 27 years have been buried.
Clashes occurred at several places in the old city as protesters chanted pro-freedom slogans. Rebellious songs blared from mosques as police and paramilitaries found it tough to control the protesters on streets.
Police said they were investigating the circumstances leading to Shah’s death.
Thousands of people gathered in south Kashmir’s lethpora village to take part in the funeral of 30-year-old truck driver Farooq Ahmad Kuchay who was killed by a middle rung state official’s security guard on Srinagar-Jammu National highway on Tuesday evening. Two persons have been injured in the incident.
Sources said that police and paramilitaries intercepted a massive car-and-bike rally in south Kashmir’s Damhal Hanjipora area in Kulgam district. Over 130 rallyists have been injured in the police action to quell the protest.
Meanwhile, normal life was paralysed on the 26th consecutive day in response to continued shutdown call by the separatists. The curfew continued in south Kashmir’s Anantnag town and Bongam Shopian in south Kashmir. The restrictions under Section 144 that prevents assembly of more than four persons remained in force in Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian districts of south Kashmir.
Clashes also broke out between the security forces and hundreds of protestors in Palhallan area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Several persons were reported injured.
Police in a statement said that during the day 15 incidents of stone pelting were reported across the valley. These incidents were reported from Srinagar, Kulgam, Sopore, Shopian, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Budgam and Awantipora.
“During these law and order situations 12 persons, 40 police and security force personnel were injured. As a precautionary measure curfew/restrictions were put in place in some police stations of Srinagar, Anantnag town, Bongam in Shopian, Khanpora in Baramulla, Awantipora and Pampora towns,” the statement added.
Police said 349 accused persons have been arrested in the valley. Besides, 122 have been detained under prohibitory provisions of law.
Scores of Kashmir University faculty members took out a protest march from the Hazratbal campus condemning civilian killings in Kashmir. The teachers passed a 13-point resolution that demands “resolution of Kashmir dispute.”
The Opposition National Conference in a statement lashed out at Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for her “insensitive, obtuse” remarks over the course of the last few days and said the Chief Minister’s “shocking insensitivity” had emboldened” the brutal response to the current unrest in the Valley. The statement said that “Mehbooba Mufti’s insensitive and inarticulate remarks have added to the anger on our streets and left no stone unturned to vilify and provoke the agitating youth and this has compounded the problem.” The statement alleged that “CM’s provocative statements have emboldened the security forces that resulted into killing of three protesters with impunity.”
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who continued to be under house arrest, led sit-in protests from their respective residences in Srinagar. The separatists had called for sit-in on Wednesday, as part of their protest calendar. The separatists have formed a loose amalgam “unified resistance group” to spearhead the ongoing anti-India stir in Kahsmir.
“It is sad that the land of Buddha, Ashoka and Gandhi who propagated Ahimsa and whose people pride themselves of this legacy, is carrying out massacre of innocents so unapologetically,” Mirwaiz said at the sit-in outside his residence. “Today even those in India who call themselves the champions of human rights or the civil society are maintaining a criminal silence,” he said.
He warned that “the spark neglected in Kashmir could turn into a dangerous ammunition dump for entire South Asia adding the current mass uprising in Kashmir is making its pro freedom aspirations known.”
Meanwhile, on the 33rd day of Amarnath Yatra, 610 Yatris paid obeisance at the Holy Cave. A total of 2 lakh 16 thousand pilgrims have so far visited the holy cave in south Kashmir mountains.