For diverse reasons, the stone-pelting phenomenon continues to dominate the Kashmir discourse as masked agitators keep the police and security forces into tizzy. The police detest the occurrences and want people to join hands against it but the separatists and rights groups accuse the police of framing youngsters in stone-pelting to settle scores.
On Thursday, police released photographs claiming that a newborn baby was given a protective shield by policemen in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district to save him from raining stones. The baby’s parents had to cross a vital bridge on way to home from hospital but the bridge was an arena of a pitched battle between stone-pelters and the policemen.
“The pelters did not heed to the pleas of the parents as well as the police. The continuous pelting posed a security threat to the child. The police formed a protective shield ring around the newborn baby and his parents and provided them safe passage on their way home,” a police statement said.
The northern garrison town is up in arms against the security forces for the past two days demanding removal of a security camp from the area.
The police have highlighted the newborn’s case to build public opinion against the stone-pelters. The police statement referred to an incident in 2010 when an 11-month-old baby died after their vehicle was attacked with stones. The baby had fallen from his mother’s lap.
Earlier this week, a subordinate court in Srinagar awarded 10-years rigorous imprisonment to a stone-thrower who was enforcing a shutdown in downtown Srinagar last year. The convict had allegedly knocked down a shopkeeper with a cricket bat for defying shutdown call. The shopkeeper later died in hospital after several days.
But, even as the stone-pelting is loathed by the authorities, there are voices that the Government is framing several youngsters in stone-pelting cases to create scare. The Opposition People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti says that the police and the ruling National Conference workers have turned the arrest, release and re-arrest of alleged stone-pelters into a lucrative business. She alleged that rate lists have been fixed for releasing youngsters arrested for their supposed involvement in stone-pelting.
The rights groups also allege that even children are held in jails for their alleged involvement in stone-pelting. On Thursday, Amnesty International urged the authorities to end administrative detention of two children held under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) and ensure that the practice of unlawful detention of children in the State was put to an end.
Asif Mujeed Shaksaz, aged 15 and Sajad Ahmad Mir, 16, both of Srinagar, were arrested on grounds of “stone-pelting” and “disruption of peace” on 25 March and 8 March respectively. They have been detained under the PSA. The J&K Police has not clarified whether they are held in regular prisons with adults in designated juvenile homes in accordance with the J&K Juvenile Justice Act (JKJJA), an Amnesty statement said.
“The J&K authorities must end the detention without charge of these two children. If they are charged for any offences, they must be tried in accordance with the rules of juvenile justice,” said Shashikumar Velath, Director of Programmes, Amnesty International India.