law and order situation abruptly took an explosive turn in several urban pockets of Kashmir Valley on Monday following unsubstantiated news about hearing of a petition in Supreme Court to decide about the special status of Jammu & Kashmir.
The authorities ordered closure of schools and colleges in view of spontaneous clashes, shutdown and stone pelting as rumours spread over the listing of fresh petition against the Article 35 A of the Indian Constitution that guarantees special status to the State.
The authorities ordered the closure by 12 noon as a precautionary measure to avoid any law and order problems in capital Srinagar.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has not taken up a fresh plea challenging Article-35A on Monday following adjournment request by the petitioner. Reports said the petition listed for hearing at serial number 12 was dropped by the Apex Court after an adjournment letter was moved by the petitioner Ashwani Upadhyay.
A fresh petition had been filed by Ashwani Upadhyay seeking scrapping of Article 35-A which bars outsiders from buying immovable property in the State and is directly linked to Article 370 in the Constitution.
Earlier, police issued an appeal to people to maintain calm and tranquility and not to pay heed to rumours regarding Article 35 A petition in the apex court. “A rumour is being spread by miscreants that hearing of Article 35 A case in the supreme court is today. This is not a fact. We will investigate all these rumour mongering cases and deal with the culprits strictly,” Munir Khan, additional director general of police, law and order tweeted.
A top leader of the Joint Resistance leadership Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also appealed people to maintain calm. In a tweet, Mirwaiz clarified that the fresh petition filed by RSS backed NGOs and individuals against Article 35 A was not related to the original case listed on August 31. He said the main petitions coming up for hearing on Article 35 A on August 31, remains matter of concern.
Instantaneous clashes between protesters and security forces with stone pelting and spontaneous shutdown in several parts of Kashmir including Srinagar was reported following news break about hearing on Article 35 A in Supreme Court.
Reports said that the clashes also erupted in south Kashmir’s Shopian and Anantnag district and also in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla after the rumours were spread over the Article 35-A case.
They said that scores of youth also sustained injuries during the clashes. Moreover, a spantaneous shutdown was observed at various places in north, South and central Kashmir areas throughout the day.
The Joint Resistance leadership has called for two day state wide shutdown on Aug 30 & 31 against hearing on attempts to tinker with the Article 35 A. the shutdown would coincide with hearing of the case in the apex court.
Apart from separatists the mainstream political parties with base in Kashmir includong the NC, PDP ans Congress and cross section of people irrespective of political affiliations are aghast over the filing of Article 35 A related petitions and subsequent hearing by the Apex Court.