At least 14 protesters, including a woman, were killed and scores wounded in incidents of firing by the security forces while a policeman was lynched by an angry crowd as reports about the desecration of a copy of the holy Quran in the United States fuelled mob fury in the Kashmir Valley on Monday.
Angry mobs also torched a Christian missionary school, several government buildings and offices and vehicles and a railway hut besides targeting security force camps and patrols across the Valley with rocks and other missiles. DGP Kuldeep Khoda said 113 policemen were injured in rock-throwing and other incidents of mob violence and that the condition of 41 of them was serious. He added that the police and other security forces had to resort to firing at various places to control violent mobs, resulting in the deaths of 13 persons and injuries to 45 others.
However, reports pouring in here from different parts of the Valley said 15 persons were killed, including a youth who reportedly drowned in the Jhelum river in southern Anantnag while security personnel were chasing a rock-throwing mob. The police said the youth was “missing” and his death could not be confirmed unless the body was found.
One policeman was beaten to death by a mob at Humhama here, Mr Khoda said. Earlier, three protesters, including a woman named Rafiqa, were killed in security force firing at Humhama after a procession of mainly Shia Muslims from neighbouring Budgam turned violent.
The Kashmir Valley has been in the grip of unrest since June this year after the killing of a Srinagar student, Tufail Ahmed Mattoo, in police action. Already over 70 people have died in police firing and beatings during weeks of protests. On Sunday evening the situation took turn for the worse when protests intensified and clashes between curfew-defying crowds and security forces spread to new areas following reports from Washington that a small group of conservative Christians had torn up some pages of the holy Quran in a protest outside the White House to denounce what they called the “charade of Islam” on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Thousands of Muslims chanting “Down with America”, “Down with Israel” and anti-India, pro-freedom slogans defied curfew and hit the streets to voice their anger over desecration of the holy Quran in the US. The initial protests were confined to the Shia-dominated areas of Srinagar — Baramulla and Budgam — after the Iranian Press TV showed footage of a man tearing off pages from the Quran outside the White House. But the protests soon spread to other areas in the Valley. Tension was already high in the area and curfews had been extended to new areas to hold back a “freedom” rally called by influential separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday near the summer headquarters of the UN Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan. Though loudspeaker-fitted police jeeps quickly went around announcing that the desecration of the Quran was only a rumour, and that the Florida pastor Terry Jones had cancelled his plans to burn the holy book, surging crowds held protests through the night and during the day on Monday. At places they clashed with the police, including at Humhama and Charar-e-Sharief in Budgam district, Tangmarg in Baramulla district, Ajas in Bandipore, Pampore in Pulwama, and in several parts of Srinagar, Anantnag, Kupwara and Ganderbal districts. Police, CRPF and other security force personnel opened fire, killing and wounding protesters in their attempt to control the situation. In central Budgam, the police also shot dead a district president of the pro-independence JKLF faction, Showkat Ahmed Mir, who was leading a protest in the main town square, reports said.
A mob torched the Christian missionary Tyndale Biscoe School and several official buildings and vehicles at Tangmarg, near the ski resort of Gulmarg. The police opened fire, killing at least six protesters. Following these incidents, the authorities reinforced security around churches and Christian missionary schools and hospitals in Srinagar and Baramulla.
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Shia cleric and politician Aga Syed Hassan appealed to the people to remain calm and not to resort to violence over the alleged desecration of the Quran in the US as that would overshadow their campaign for the right to self-determination.
Mr Geelani said, “The Quran has been memorised by millions of Muslims and therefore tearing a copy of the holy book should not dishearten the faithful and they should not indulge in violence over it.” The Mirwaiz and Mr Aga, in a joint statement, said, “Anti-Islam forces have been for quite long, overtly and covertly, trying to hurt the sentiments of the Muslim ummah. These attempts have exposed the anti-Islam forces and put them in the dock in this world and hereafter. Muslims can tolerate anything except the desecration of the holy Quran. Our religious sentiments stand hurt and we condemn this dastardly act from the core of our hearts, but the people should not lose patience and indulge in acts which would send the wrong signals about us to the outside world and in turn harm our own cause.”
Major towns in the Kashmir Valley continued to be under round-the-clock curfew on Monday for the second consecutive day.
According to DGP Khoda, violence was also reported from Banihal, Doda, Kashtigarh, Poonch and Mandi areas of Jammu region. He said 52 persons associated with the Hurriyat Conference and supportive J&K Muslim League were arrested. The CRPF camp at Charar-e-Sharief and a BSF camp at Rangreth, in Budgam district, and security force convoys were attacked by mobs.