Uneasy calm in Valley amid stray incidents of violence
21 April 2015 5:25 AM IST
“There were minor incidents of stone-pelting in Narbal area of Budgam to protest yesterday’s firing, in which a boy was killed,” a police official said.
Most shops in Lal Chowk were shut, fearing law and order problems. Police said the situation across the rest of the Valley was peaceful as security forces maintained a close vigil. Not many people were seen on roads because of the inclement weather.
An uneasy calm prevailed in the Valley as authorities placed Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and several other separatist leaders under house arrest to foil their plans for holding protests against the killing of 16-year-old Suhail Ahmad Sofi at Narbal in Budgam district in central Kashmir.
While the Mirwaiz was put under house arrest on Saturday, Geelani continued to be under house arrest for the third consecutive day, police officials said. A posse of police personnel had been posted outside the residences of these leaders to prevent them from leading protests at Residency Road in the afternoon.
Sofi was killed, while two other youths were injured when security forces fired upon demonstrators at Narbal on Saturday. They were protesting against the killing of two youths in an Army operation in Tral area of Pulwama district on Monday.
Two policemen including an officer have been arrested in connection with Sofi’s killing ,while the SHO of the concerned police station has been taken off active duty.
Both Mirwaiz and Geelani had called for a shutdown in Budgam against Sofi’s killing. Geelani, who termed the killing as “act of state terrorism”, had appealed to separatist leaders to assemble at Pratap Park in Lal Chowk at 2pm to register their protest.
A group of second rung Hurriyat leaders led by Altaf Ahmad Shah managed to reach the Residency Road here and staged peaceful protests.
Geelani, in a statement, said CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s slogan about “talks and not bullets” for resolution of Kashmir issue has proved to be hollow. “Since he (Sayeed) took over the reins, three youths have been killed by the forces. As the head of the Unified Headquarters, he is directly responsible for these deaths,” Geelani added.
Narbal continues to remain tense but peaceful as security forces have been deployed in large numbers to control the situation.
Meanwhile, DGP K Rajendra Kumar had convened a high-level meeting of police, CRPF and intelligence officers late Saturday night to take stock of the law and order situation in the Valley, a police spokesman said on Sunday.
The spokesperson said the DGP has been breifed about the situation. The DGP has directed the officers to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.
Pakistan Rangers indulge in heavy shelling in Kathua district
Pakistan Rangers on Sunday indulged in unprovoked heavy shelling at Indian positions along the international border in Kathua district. “Pakistan Rangers started heavy shelling at Hariyachak, Pansar and Pahadpur villages in Hiranagar sector of Kathua,” police said. “Three mortar shells launched from the Pakistan side landed at Chann Lal Din village on the Indian side. The BSF has started retaliating to it. Pakistan shelling started at 6.30pm today (Sunday)," he said, adding that “Firing exchanges are still going on at these places.”
Mufti can resolve Kashmir issue if he gets a free hand: Sharad
If given a “free hand” to run his government, J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed will succeed in resolving the long-pending Kashmir issue, Janata Dal(U) President Sharad Yadav said on Sunday.
Yadav, who met his former Janata Dal colleague Sayeed over lunch in Jammu on Saturday, said the PDP leader was a “nationalist who has lived for this country and would die for this country”.
“I know Mufti Mohammed Sayeed personally for very long, he is a capable person and I am confident that if given a free hand to work, he would find a way out of this (Kashmir) problem,” the Janata Dal(U) leader said.
“It was a long overdue meeting, so I decided that before the Parliament session resumes, I must visit him. We have been together in the Union cabinet and I know him well. It was just an apolitical meeting where we discussed everything else except politics,” Yadav said.
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