Army tries to deflate separatists’ popularity

As the separatists-called shutdown in the Kashmir Valley entered its 33rd day on Wednesday with almost 100 per cent compliance from people, the security forces, including the Army, have stepped up their counter campaign to deflate the ballooning popularity of their “crusade” and change the success into a failure.

Small contingents from the Army, which has been lately assigned a “bigger and more useful” role to play towards resolving the crisis triggered by the killing Wani on July 8, have over the past couple of days appeared in different Valley areas, asking people to resume their normal activity. Also, traders are being “encouraged” to open their establishments. The Army said that the military, along with the J&K police, is “trying to instil confidence in people to defy the separatists’ diktat”.

In one such example, the soldiers were on Wednesd-ay seen out in Sonwar, Pandrethan and adjoining areas close to Srinagar’s Badami Bagh Cantonm-ent, asking the local tra-ders who also live in these areas to open their establishments and “resist those who throw stones”.

On the other hand, the J&K police and security forces went round marketplaces asking the shopkeepers who had responded favourably to the separatists’ call to resume business after 6 pm to bring their shutters down. “We were asked to close shops and instead open them during the day time,” said Abdur Rashid, a shop owner at Sopore’s Iqbal Market.

The local traders’ body — Sopore Beopaar Mandal — resisted the security forces’ behaviour, terming it “anti-people”.

Prolonged and uninterrupted official curfews and clampdowns and protest shutdowns called by separatists have caused a sort of humanitarian crisis in the Kashmir Valley and the situation, particularly in urban areas like the towns of Srinagar, Anantnag, Pulwama and Kulgam, is grim. However, the people have been able to sustain over the past one month mainly because essential commodities, including vegetables, rice, milk and other eatables, used to be transported to Srinagar and other towns from the countryside in the dead of the night when the security forces would have already been withdrawn from the streets. These would be quickly sold to the residents at makeshift kiosks. Also, the volunteers and local aid agencies have actively contributed to relief effort.

But now, as per reports pouring in from different Valley areas, the police and other security forces are discouraging this pursuit too as it has helped the separatists to continue with their campaign and extend shutdown calls initially issued for three days to mourn Wani’s killing. Earlier this week, the security forces went inside Sopore’s sub-district hospital to ask the volunteers to wind up a community kitchen set up for the attendants of those injured during the unrest and other patients. The volunteers of rightwing Jama’at-e-Islami who had set up a relief camp at the Baramulla’s district hospital premises were allegedly forced to close it and leave. “The police on Monday asked us to wind up or face consequences. Following the threat, we closed the relief activity,” said a Jama’at official.

The vehicular movement during the night time in various areas including in Baramulla and Kupwara has been virtually banned and even the ambulances carrying patients from a hospital in the frontier district were on Tuesday night not allowed to move towards Srinagar as was alleged by the hospital staff.

The staff at Kupwara’s government-run district hospital alleged that the troops deployed at Seelu on the outskirts of Sopore did not allow an ambulance carrying a pregnant woman who had been referred to Srinagar’s Lala Ded Women’s Hospital to drive beyond their check-point. Earlier, a van carrying day’s newspapers from Srinagar was turned back from the same check-point, alleged a local distributer.

Army sources here denied the charge of “highhandedness” but admitted that it has in a joint effort involving J&K police too set out on a campaign to encourage people particularly traders and transporters “who are scare of reprisals from miscreants” to resume their normal activity. “The sole idea is to instil confidence among the people particularly shopkeepers who are fed up with these strike calls and want to resume their normal activity but fear reprisals from stone-pelting mobs and other miscreants,” said an Army official.

J&K’s acting Director General of Police S.K. Mishra has also asked the traders to defy separatists’ diktat. He assured them and “everybody else” “complete security”. While speaking at a function here, he said, “People should open their shops even during day time. We are ready to provide protection to everybody.”

Meanwhile, some displaced Kashmiri Pandits living outside the Valley have launched a campaign through social media sites asking the people in rest of the country to boycott the traders including those dealing in the Valley’s cottage industry and also do not visit Kashmir for two years. Also, an outfit calling itself ‘Kashmiri Hindu Sena’ on Tuesday issued a formal statement expressing concern over the traders, transporters and government employees of the Valley actively taking part in the ongoing agitating. It asked non-Kashmiri people to stop buying Kashmiri shawls, saffron, spices and even apples from Kashmiri Muslim traders. “We appeal people in rest of the country to stop visiting shops owned by Kashmiri Muslims even if they are the owners of restaurants. People should stop visiting Kashmir even as tourists for two years and if anyone has reserved rooms in hotels in the Valley they are requested to cancel their reservations,” the statement issued through Jammu-based news agency KIP said.

During the Amarnath land row in 2008, the separatists had called for ‘Muzaffarabad chalo’ march to cross the Line of Control in retribution to the saffron parties’ economic blockade and trade embargo of the predominantly Muslim Valley. Several people including prominent separatist leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz were killed in security forces’ firings while making abortive attempts to cross over to PoK.

In Srinagar, the traders’ bodies have, however, reiterated their support to the agitation being led by a recently formed ‘issue-based’ loose alliance of key separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Faroooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik and said they are willing to sacrifice the business for the ‘cause” and mainly because the “worst ever humanitarian crises unleashed by the government forces are intolerable”.

After holding a meeting with the district presidents and other office-bears of various traders’ and transporters’ bodies, Muhammad Yasin Khan, president of Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) said, “We are willing to sacrifice our business for the cause of solution to Kashmir problem. Moreover, how can we tolerate the horrifying atrocities being perpetuated on the people of the Valley ”