Soon after his arrival here from Delhi on a two-day visit to make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, Union home minister Rajnath Singh held brief meetings with senior officers of the J&K poli
Soon after his arrival here from Delhi on a two-day visit to make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, Union home minister Rajnath Singh held brief meetings with senior officers of the J&K police, various Central forces and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to be briefed on the latest ground situation. This was followed by a series of closed-door meetings with members of select civil society groups, trade unions, other organisations and the clergy.
Mr Singh is accompanied on his visit by the directors-general (DGs) of the CRPF and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). These paramilitary forces, along with the J&K police, are greatly involved in the effort to contain the unrest.
During the past fortnight about 5,000 additional personnel from these Central forces have been rushed in from Delhi and other parts of India.
However, various Srinagar-based trade unions refused to meet the home minister, saying a meeting would be “meaningless” when “the government continues killing and maiming innocent people”.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti visited Kupwara on Saturday where she met the family of a youth killed in police action against protesters.
The Valley erupted earlier this month following the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani. Srinagar and other cities and towns of the Valley continued to reel under uninterrupted curfew for the 15th day running on Saturday and there have been fresh clashes between stone-hurling mobs and security forces. The police said clashes and stone-pelting incidents were reported from Karan Nagar, Batamallo and Chanapora in Srinagar, Fatehpora in Ganderbal, Chadoora in Budgam, Bomai, Sopore in Baramulla, Kakapora, Padgampora Bahu and Tahab in Pulwama district and Srigufwara in Anantnag district.
While Mr Singh was holding meetings at Nehru Guest House in the foothills of the Zabarwan range to know their views on the Kashmir unrest and seek their cooperation in assuaging the situation, about six kilometres away a huge crowd of slogan-chanting residents carrying black and Pakistan national flags emerged from curfew-bound central Srinagar and made repeated attempts to relocate to the civil lines area on Saturday evening. But J&K police and CRPF personnel in riot gear fired teargas canisters to push them back into the alleyways of what is often referred to as “downtown” Srinagar.
Official sources said that till late Saturday afternoon those who had met the home minister included Sanjay K. Tickoo, the president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti, representatives of a faction of the Houseboat Owners Association, Shikarawalla Association and Sunday Market Traders’ Association. Former IAS officers and bureaucrats Khursheed A. Ganai and Muhammad Shaffi Pandit also called on him to put across their viewpoints given the experiences they have gained while serving in Jammu and Kashmir in different capacities. A delegation from the minority Sikh community and one Prof. A.R. Shawl, who introduced himself to reporters as a “researcher”, also met Mr Rajnath Singh.
Various Srinagar-based trade union organisations, including the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kashmir Economic Alliance and the Kashmir Traders’ Federation, and familiar civil society groups of the Valley, however, refused to meet Mr Singh on the plea the government should first halt the killing and maiming of people by the security forces. Following this, office-bearers of the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry were flown to Srinagar from the winter capital to meet the home minister. However, officials said their meeting with Mr Singh had already been planned as the unrest in the Valley has affected trade in Jammu badly.
A group of Muslim clerics enrolled as paid imams at the government-controlled Muslim Waqf Board were also transported in an ambulance to the Nehru Guest House to meet Mr Singh.
Leaders and representatives of various mainstream political parties are to meet the home minister early Sunday, sources said. However, while the main regional Opposition party, the National Conference (NC), is ambivalent, the Congress has announced that in view of the “deteriorating situation” it has decided not to meet the home minister. “Both the Union and state governments are responsible for the present turmoil. Also, the wrong policies of the present dispensation at the Centre, besides the vicious campaign against a particular community from time to time, on the part of the BJP leadership have fuelled the anger, leading to the alienation of the people,” said JKPCC chief G.A. Mir.
Official sources said Mr Singh has asked for curfew to be lifted in the areas which did not see much violence and were relatively calm on Saturday and before. “Curfew is being lifted from some parts of Srinagar, and completely in the districts of Baramulla, Bandipore and Ganderbal, immediately,” a police spokesman said in Srinagar.
However, separatists have reiterated their call for a protest shutdown till Monday and asked people to relocate to southern Anantnag town on that day to express solidarity with the families of the slain youth.
Meanwhile, the state government said on Friday that during the last 10 days, 2,252 persons with minor and major injuries have been treated in various hospitals. Out of these, 2,144 have been discharged after treatment and 104 are currently still in the hospitals receiving treatment. “Doctors in various hospitals have conducted 359 surgeries. Out of 197 civilians who received injuries to the eye, 160 have been operated upon. At present there are 32 such patients admitted to various hospitals in Srinagar who are receiving further treatment for eye-related injuries,” an official spokesman said.
He added that at the instance of the CM the government on Saturday made special arrangements to send five patients to AIIMS in New Delhi for further specialised treatment. Out of them, four patients have already been shifted to AIIMS where they have been examined and are being treated by specialists at Rajinder Prasad Institute of Ophthalmic Sciences, AIIMS.
In a related development, the BJP has demanded that the role of the NC in stone-pelting incidents and “fuelling” the unrest should be probed. Against the backdrop of the police registering an FIR against two NC activists over their alleged role in the attack on a police station in southern Kulgam district, BJP spokesperson Anil Gupta said, “The allegations are too serious and need to be investigated expeditiously. The role of the NC in fuelling the current turmoil is exposed.” He alleged, “The NC is unable to digest the fact that it has been rejected by the people time and again, as is evident from its shrinking number of seats and vote-share.”
