Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Feb 11: Two teenage boys died in violence across Kashmir that raged after the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in Tihar Jail last Saturday taking the death toll to 3 and over 70 people were injured so far.
In the meantime, curfew continued for third day today in Srinagar city and across Kashmir valley’s major towns. There seems to be no relief for the people as the hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has called for strike till Friday.
A 16-year-old boy, Ubaid Mushtaq, injured last evening in CRPF firing in North Kashmir’s Watergam died last night. He was declared dead during the night at SKIMS Hospital in Soura, Srinagar. Doctors at SKIMS said that he was hit by a bullet in abdomen that resulted in his blood loss and death.
Uhaid’s body was handed over to his relatives and it was taken to Watergam during the night. Thousands of people of the villages and adjacent areas attended his funeral. Police and para-military forces were heavily deployed in the area and protests continued for several hours in the area. However, they were relatively peaceful.
Ubaid along with 5 other men, were injured in Watergam area of North Kashmir in CRPF firing. He and Sajjad Ahmad were referred to Srinagar’s SKIMS Hospital for treatment. Sajjad was hit by a bullet in his head and his condition is stated to be critical.
Police this morning fished out body of 14-year-old boy Zameer Ahmad Dar, son of Abdul Rashid Dar of Batwina in Ganderbal district. Hundreds of people took the body of the boy to Srinagar-Leh national Highway and blocked it. Police and CRPF charged batons and fire tear-smoke shells to disperse them. One person Zahoor Ahmad was injured in the clashes and he was rushed to the SKIMS Hospital in Soura, Srinagar, for treatment.
The youth also beat up Tehsildar of Lar who was injured and referred to hospital for treatment. However, Superintendent of Police, Shahid Meraj, and Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Itrat Hussain, rushed to the spot and pacified the protesters. Hundreds of people later attended the burial of the boy.
Police has registered a case (FIR NO. 29/2013) in Police Station Sumbal and are investigating the cause of drowning of the two people. Police maintains that the duo drowned as their boat capsized in the river when they were crossing it.
However, an eyewitness, Ghulam Mohidin Dar of Batwina, deposed before the Deputy Commissioner that there was protest across river in Sumbal and both of them were across. He told the DC that they were chased by police and he saw police beating them in the boat that capsized later.
In the meantime there were reports of protests and clashes from across Kashmir valley. Police and CRPF clashes with stone throwing protesters in several area in Sopore, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Srinagar city, Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam districts. Most of these protests were reported in the evening.
However there were no reports of any casualty. Unconfirmed reports said that around 20 people were injured in clashes across Kashmir. However, there was no major injury to anybody.
Caught in the curfew, people in Kashmir are confined indoors. Majority are now running out of food, medicine, cooking gas and other essentials. A local resident of old city Srinagar, Nasir Ahmad, said that he has no milk to feed his baby and his ailing mother has run out of medicine.
The hospitals in Kashmir valley are also understaffed. One of the attendants of patient at Srinagar’s Lal Ded hospital, Zahoor Ahmad, told Excelsior that hardly few doctors are in the hospital and hospital is running with limited staff. The movement of the staff has become difficult due to curfew and tension across Kashmir valley. He said that attendants are also in the hospital since Saturday as there is no transport that can carry them home nor they have any curfew passes to go to their homes.
As part of curbs the Cable television news and mobile internet connectivity remains suspended in in Kashmir. The service providers are silent over suspension of the services. However, Broadband facility of the Government service provider, BSNL, is functional but hardly a couple of hundred people have such facility.
The local newspapers were not published for the second day today as publishers said that they were disallowed circulation of their newspapers. The movement of the local journalists was also curbed as Government didn’t issue them passes to cover the situation in the aftermath of Guru’s hanging.
Rail services remained suspended for the third day today due to security reasons and curfew restrictions in the Kashmir valley. There was no passenger train and the people stayed indoor because of curfew restrictions.
The railway stations are wearing a deserted look for the past three days due to the absence of any passenger. The authorities suspended rail connecting Qazigund in South Kashmir to Baramulla in North Kashmir as a precautionary measure as during 2010 summer violence railway property was damaged.
In the meantime, Geelani and has urged Centre to return the mortal remains of Afzal Guru to his family. Geelani asked people to observe strike till Friday against the curfew and killing of youth.
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