Surging crowds defied curfew in Sopore and while chanting pro-freedom slogans clashed with the riot police on Saturday, a day after the Kashmiri town, 48 km northwest of summer capital Srinagar, had witnessed widespread disturbances in the aftermath of the killing of two protesters in CRPF firing, reports said.
According to witnesses, the police and CRPF fired rifle shots over the heads of the protesters, burst teargas canisters and swung bamboo sticks to chase the curfew defying crowds back into dark alleys but were soon targeted with stones and other missiles. Confirming it, a senior police officer who spoke to this newspaper over the phone from Sopore said that protests broke out at nine places — all in downtown Sopore — on Saturday. “We used mild force to restore order as we have been directed to exercise restraint while dealing with the crowds. I presume there were no fresh casualties. The anger here is undoubtedly high and widespread,” the officer pleading anonymity said.
Curfew was imposed on Sopore on Friday evening as the town witnessed widespread protests and violence following the killing of two local youth in CRPF. But surging crowds chanting “we want freedom” defied the restrictions whereas a protest shutdown called by both factions of the Hurriyat Conference closed markets elsewhere in the Valley. Though public transport was off the roads, private cars could be seen plying here and in some other towns. Also, some banks and government offices functioned normally and groceries and pharmacies were open too.
Sopore erupted on Friday after the security forces killed two alleged militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in a firefight. However, the residents claimed that one of the slain men was an unarmed civilian deliberately slain by the troops and demanded that his corpse be handed over to them. CRPF authorities insist that during the protests an irate crowd attacked one of its vehicles and then torched it and that the personnel onboard opened fire in self-defence, killing two protesters and wounding six others. But the residents claimed that the CRPF gypsy was set to fire only after the firing which was unprovoked or, at least, disproportionate. The killing of two Sopore youth and injuries to six others in Friday’s firing incident has evoked severe criticism and condemnation from mainstream political parties in the Opposition camp and the separatists alike.
Chief Muslim cleric and chairman of his faction of separatists, Hurriyat Conference alliance Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has asked the chief minister to admit his failures and quit.