In between Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's all-party meet on July 21 and Home Minister Rajnath Singh's arrival in Srinagar on July 23, Kashmir Valley continued to remain on the edge on Friday as law enforcing agencies shot yet another youngster in south Kashmir's Awantipora area while a youngster succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. Massive protests were held in various parts of the Valley as curfew and shutdown continued to cripple normal life in the region.
Sources said that a group of youngsters held demonstrations at Charsoo village in Awantipora pocket of south Kashmir after the Friday prayers. They were intercepted by police in the village located on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway leading to clashes. Police fired teargas shells and opened fire on the protesters. One youngster Mushtaq Ahmad was hit by a bullet. He was shifted to hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Earlier, a youngster from south Kashmir's Kokernag area identified as ishfaq Ahmad succumbed to his injuries at a Srinagar hospital. Ahmad was taken to hospital 12 days ago after he was injured in security forces' firing in the area.
Sources said that police also opened fire on protesters at Kakapora and Pulwama in south Kashmir. Sources said that at least three protesters have been wounded in the incident. Among them a Class IX student Asif Ahmad's condition was reported to be critical.
Officials say that 45 people, including three women and a policeman, have died so far in the two weeks of turmoil. Hundreds of civilians and security personnel have been wounded. The unofficial counts put the death toll at 50.
Meanwhile, normal life remained crippled throughout the Valley for the 14th consecutive day as the authorities continued imposition of curfew in the sensitive localities across Kashmir. The areas without curfew were affected by the shutdown called by separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik who have constituted a "joint resistance group" to spearhead the agitation that broke out after Burhan Wani's killing.
The authorities barred worshippers to access the Srinagar's Grand Mosque where Friday prayers were not held for the second consecutive time. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is under house arrest like most of the separatist leaders, delivers weekly politico-religious sermon in the mosque.
The communication blockade continued in the Valley as authorities suspended telephone services barring BSNl post paid landline, mobile and broadband internet services. The suspension of mobile telephony and internet network continues for the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, the Jammu & Kashmir High Court has directed the State Government to take action against news channels that have created "hysteria" about Kashmir and its people, and blamed the television media reportage for pushing the Valley's IAS officer Shah Faesal "to the edge". A Division Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice NN Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Muzaffar Hasnain Attar has expressed displeasure over the media coverage and observed that the "hysteria created by some national news channels" has created problems for the Government.