The situation in Kashmir is showing no signs of improvement as separatist-sponsored shutdown and curfew in sensitive areas continued to cripple normal life. On Wednesday, an elderly villager succumbed to injuries at a Srinagar hospital four days after he had been allegedly beaten up by the security forces.
Sources said that 65-year-old Ghulam Muhammad, a resident of Khumriyal village in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, was admitted to SMHS Hospital with a head injury. He had slipped into coma and succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday morning.
The death toll in the recent turmoil triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani on July 8 has risen to 42. Around 2,100 protesters and bystanders have been injured in the anti-riot campaign by the police and paramilitaries while more than 1,500 cops have also received injuries after being attacked by stone-throwers.
Normal life remained crippled for the 12th straight day. Though vehicular movement was seen in some uptown pockets of capital Srinagar, the imposition of curfew in the old city and several sensitive south Kashmir districts kept normal life crippled.
The Government offices, including the civil secretariat are mostly dysfunctional. Many employees from Jammu have left the Valley till the resumption of routine. The authorities had to extend summer vacations in the educational institutions in the wake of worsening law and order situation. However, the schools in districts of Baramulla, Bandipora, Budgam and Ganderbal in Kashmir division as well as the schools in winter zone of Jammu division have been asked to resume functioning from July 21.
An official said that even as the overall situation remained peaceful, police and para-military personnel have been deployed in strength to maintain the situation. A day after it asked people to observe July 20 as “Black Day”, joint resistance camp today afternoon issued a new protest calendar up to Monday, July 25.
The separatists have extended the shutdown call till Monday even as the
overseas kashmiris have been asked to hold protests in foreign countries or “wherever they live”.
In a joint statement Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik asked the people to follow its programme of shutdowns and protest marches.
Meanwhile, the annual Amarnath yatra is continuing amid hiccups due to the prevailing situation. A fresh batch of one thousand pilgrims left Jammu base Camp on Wednesday morning amid tight security.
The cavalcade of pilgrims travels during the night hours on Jammu Srinagar National Highway towards Baltal and Pahalgam base camps in Kashmir. Since July 2 when the annual yatra started, as many as 1,82,768 pilgrims had darshan of ice lingam at the Holy Amarnath Cave.
Meanwhile, the local newspapers decided to resume publication after suspending it for five days due to strict curbs imposed by the state government. last week, the authorities swooped on the printing presses in Srinagar and Budgam districts and snatched printed copies of the newspapers and unprinted plates. Several members of the printing press staff were also detained.
The resumption of publication was decided after some editors met with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who regretted the curbs on media and assured that such practice would not be repeated. Superintendent of Police in Budgam was transferred for hampering newspaper publication. “The chief minister strongly regretted and apologized for the situation that was created by a law and order related decision unintended at newspapers,” a statement of the editors said. She has assured that the government will not hamper the functioning of the media at any level.
Governor NN Vohra who is the ex-officio Chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board reviewed the progress of Amarbnath yatra in a high-level meeting at Raj Bhawan. DGP K Rajindra told the meeting that in the backdrop of recent law and order incidents, all tourists and pilgrims who had been stranded at the two yatra base camps, were being enabled to proceed to Jammu in convoys at night, with adequate security arrangements. The meeting was further informed that security arrangements at both the Yatra Base Camps as well as at the various
Camps along the Yatra routes have been further beefed up for ensuring the safety and security of those undertaking the Yatra.