Authorities foil Kashmiri separatist rally

Dozens of protesters were injured on Monday as security forces fired tear gas and pellet guns and also exploded stun grenades to thwart a ‘solidarity’ rally planned by Kashmiri separatists at the main square of southern Anantnag town.

The rally, as had been announced by a recently formed issue-based loose alliance of key separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, was to show solidarity with the people of the area as Anantnag along with neighbouring districts of Kulgam and Pulwama have been worst hit in the 17-day-old unrest in Kashmir Valley.

More than 50 protesters and two policemen have been killed in violence and most of the fatal civilian casualties occurred in south Kashmir.

The turbulence was triggered by the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahedin militant commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani by security forces in Anantnag’s Kokernag area on July 8.

The hospitals in the Valley of Kashmir, the epicentre of the unrest, are overwhelmed and more than one dozen people, mostly young, have lost their vision and about 150 more are threatened with blindness by pellets lodged in their eyes.

Following widespread criticism and political parties and human rights groups at home and abroad calling for complete ban on the use of pellet-guns introduced as ‘non-lethal weapon’ to contain a similar unrest in the Valley in Summer 2010, Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, said he has asked the security forces to refrain from using pellet guns “as much as possible.”

Mr Rajnath Singh who was on a visit to the restive Valley during the week-end for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, also said that the government will constitute an expert committee to help in finding ‘alternative’ to the pellet-gun.

However, on Monday, the security forces again allegedly used pellet guns along with stun-grenades, teargas canisters and bamboo sticks to foil about a dozen attempts by huge curfew-defying crowds at different places to march on Anantnag, 55 km south of Srinagar.

In the summer capital itself, two key separatist leaders Mr Geelani and Mirwaiz were arrested as they emerged out of their otherwise besieged respective houses in attempts to relocate to Anantnag.

Reports pouring in from Srinagar said that scores of people were injured in fresh clashes across the valley including in Srinagar where curfew and other restrictions remained in force on 17th day running on Monday.

Outside Srinagar, protests and clashes took place in Tral, Bijbehara, Duchnipora, Srigufwara, Nanil, Kanilwan, Aang, Matipora, Anchidora, Acahbal, Jablipora, Kaimoh, Khudwani and Kulgam.

A statement issued by police here said that the situation throughout the Kashmir Valley remained “peaceful and under control” but also admitted that stray stone-pelting incidents were reported from “some places.”

It also said, “There was no curfew in most of the towns/areas of the Valley although curfew remained imposed in 12 police stations of Srinagar and towns of Awantipora, Kulgam, Baramulla, Pattan and Anantnag”. The cross-LoC bus ‘Karwan-i-Aman’, suspended for four weeks, resumed with 73 passengers leaving Srinagar for Muzaffarabad. Meanwhile, internet services were on Monday evening restored in Jammu region after being suspended for 16 days. However, the ‘blackout’ including partial ban on cellular phone services continues in the Valley.