Relative calm prevailed in the Kashmir Valley on Tue-sday even as curfew continued to be in force in summer capital Srinagar and other cities and towns with thousands of police and paramilitary troope
Relative calm prevailed in the Kashmir Valley on Tue-sday even as curfew continued to be in force in summer capital Srinagar and other cities and towns with thousands of police and paramilitary troopers in riot gear out on the streets on the eleventh consecutive day.
The police said only a few “stray and intermittent” st-one-pelting incidents were reported from Tahab in Pulwama, Sangam Chowk (Bijbehara) in Anantnag, Fatehpora and Ahan in Ganderbal and Bagyas and Recka Chowk (Batamallo) in Srinagar districts.
However, reports from Qazigund, 73 km from here, said that massive, but relatively peaceful protests we-re held in the area known as gateway to the Valley from the south as residents have widely mourned the death of three persons, including two women, in Army firing on an alleged stone-pelting mob on Monday.
The Army has regretted the human loss in the firing, saying the troops were “forced” to open fire on the violent crowd at Churhat on the peripheries of the highway town. “The Army deeply regrets the unfortunate loss of life in the incident. The troops were forced to open fire as a large mob turned violent and resorted to heavy stone-pelting and even attempted to snatch weapons from the soldiers,” a statement issued by the Srinagar-based 15 (Chinar) Corps said.
Expressing grief over the loss of life and injuries sustained by the protesters, the Army appealed to the people “to maintain peace and refrain from attacking security forces or their vehicles or establishments thus creating situations where the security forces are left with no option but to retaliate in self defence”. It also pledged to provide all possible assistance to the bereaved families and to the persons injured in the “unfortunate incident”.
However, residents have questioned the J&K police and the Army on their claim that the protesters had tried to snatch the soldiers’ weapons.
Publications not to come out today No newspapers were published from Srinagar on the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday and the publishers and editors have decided not to come out with their publications on Wednesday also. They have alleged that the PDP-BJP government is not speaking in one voice and not owning up the “press emergency” imposed by it.
The police had on Saturday confiscated the copies of all leading Srinagar newspapers during pre-dawn raids at their press offices in an undeclared information gag which has also shut down the Internet, cellular phone services and cable TV network partially. Though no formal gag order was issued, the authorities had privately justified the curbs saying these were unavoidable in order to discourage “rumour-mongering”, which, they insisted, was “adding fuel to the fire”.
