Scores of people, including a senior police officer, were injured as violent protests against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru spread to new areas in Kashmir Valley on Monday.
The escalation has been caused apparently by the death of three local youth during protests since Sunday afternoon; one of them in the police firing and the two others due to drowning in a river. Meanwhile, non-stop curfew remained in force in the Valley on the third consecutive day on Monday, causing hardships to mainly over four million people living in cities and towns. They are running short of essentials like vegetables, bread, milk and medicines or none of these are available to them.
As tensions are on the rise, 10 additional companies of CRPF (approximately 1,200 men) requisitioned by the Jammu and Kashmir government are being airlifted to Srinagar from New Delhi. Chief minister Omar Abdullah, worried at the turn of events, closeted with his senior Cabinet colleagues and top officials of the police, paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies to review the situation. The CM had on Sunday slammed execution of Guru and said this would reinforce a sense of alienation and injustice among generations of youth in Kashmir.
Protests and rallies were held in various parts of the Valley on Monday also to commemorate the 28th death anniversary Kashmiri nationalist leader and co-founder of JKNLF Muhammad Maqbool Butt who was also hanged in same Tihar jail on February 11, 1984 on charge of murdering an Indian intelligence official during his exploits way back in mid-1960s. One such protest was held in his hometown Trehgam in Kupwara district. Butt, like Guru, was buried within the jail premises and his supporters are demanding his mortal remains be returned so that they could give them a decent Islamic burial back home.
The first grave at Srinagar’s new “martyrs” cemetery’ at Idgah has been kept empty and preserved for Butt’s mortal remains.
Renewed protests were reported from various parts of Baramulla, Kupwara and Ganderbal districts and soon spread to neighbouring areas after three youth died; one of them in police firing and two others due to drowning following being chased by CRPF during protests in Wateragam and Sumbal areas, respectively.
Even as police and CRPF enforced a rigid and nonstop curfew in Kashmir Valley barring a couple of places including Uri town close to the Line of Control for the third day running, huge crowds of people took to the streets at Wateragam, Sumbal, Mai-suma (Srinagar), Palhalan, Pattan, Batwani, Khanpora and half a dozen other places.