“The Secretary-General is closely following the recent clashes in Kashmir. He regrets the reported loss of dozens of lives and the injuries to many others,” a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson said here.
The statement said Ban “calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further violence and hopes that all concerns would be addressed through peaceful means”. Earlier during the daily briefing on Monday, Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the reports of the clashes in Kashmir, in which about 23 people have been killed so far and over 250 injured, “are of concern to us”.
Dujarric also rejected remarks by a Pakistani journalist that the UN chief, who had earlier in the day addressed the press on the situation in South Sudan, had “brushed aside” the Kashmir issue and was not taking note of the situation there.
“I think no one is denying that we are concerned about the situation in Kashmir. The fact that the Secretary General did not raise it as he did not raise many other critical situations around the world does not mean that he is brushing anything aside,” Dujarric said.
Tensions are rising in Kashmir where clashes have broken out between protesters and security personnel following the killing of Hizbul terrorist Burhan Wani last week.
PM ‘unhappy’ over media coverage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to have expressed his ‘unhappiness’ over the media coverage on violent protests in Kashmir, following the killing of Burhan Wani, saying that the Hizbul Mujahideen militant has been portrayed as a “hero”.
This was conveyed by the Prime Minister at the high-level meeting that he convened on Tuesday morning to review the situation in J&K, after Wani’s killing in an encounter, sources privy to the meeting said. In the meeting, attended by top Union Ministers and officials, the Prime Minister was given a detailed briefing about Wani, the encounter, subsequent protests and drowning of a policeman.
Modi was believed to have expressed ‘unhappiness’ over the media coverage of the Kashmir situation, saying a militant, who was involved in terror activities and was working for disintegrating the country, has been portrayed as “hero”, giving more traction to his followers to whip up frenzy, sources said. Modi has also cited over a dozen cases registered against Wani, most of which were serious in nature under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The meeting also reviewed the Rs 80,000-crore financial package announced by the NDA government for J&K and its implementation.
Meanwhile, sources said, the Home Ministry was worried over the situation in Kashmir Valley in the next two days. July 13 (tomorrow) is commemorated as “martyrs day” in Kashmir and Friday is the 'jumme ki namaz'.
Graffiti eulogising Burhan Wani comes up in Srinagar
Graffiti eulogising Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in an encounter with security forces last week, has come up at many places in the summer capital of J&K.
Even as most parts of Srinagar and other districts have been under strict restrictions since Saturday, wall writings have been spotted at many places here.
“Burhan is our hero”, says one writing on the shutter of a shop in Amira Kadal near the city centre of Lal Chowk, which has been shut since Saturday. On an adjacent shop, words “Today we mourn, lion is no more” have been written in spray paint.
“Burhan still alive” is yet another such graffiti that has come up in the city along with the words ‘AK-47’, referring to the assault rifle that Wani used to brandish in his pictures and videos on social media.
After Wani and his two associates were killed on Friday, a massive violence broke on the streets of the Valley, which has so far left 24 civilians dead allegedly in security forces action. One policeman was also killed in mob violence. This is not the first time that such graffiti has emerged. Such graffiti was spotted during the protests of 2008 and 2010 and after the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in 2013.