SRINAGAR: Peaceful protests were held in Qazigund, Verinag, Doru and Laru Kulgam in south Kashmir and Tangmarag of north Kashmir while as protests took ugly turn in Kunzar and Shopian resulting into the injuries to at least two including a woman who was hit by a tear smoke shell.
The ‘Mutahida Majlis-e-Mashawrat’ (MMM) had called for protests after Friday prayers to press for the return of the mortal remains of Afzal Guru who was hanged and buried in Tihar jail Delhi on February 9. Administration has put in place strict restrictions across the valley to prevent the protests.
Despite restrictions people in Qazigund, Duro and Verinag shouted anti India and pro freedom slogans for some time and later on dispersed peacefully. Same kind of protest was held in Tangmarag in the north Kashmir. Police sources confirmed the peaceful protest after Friday prayers in Tangmarag.
They however, added that the protest took an ugly turn at Kunzar some six KMs away from Tangmarag. The heavy contingent of police and CRPF used tear smoke shells to disperse the protesters who retaliated by pelting stones. Police sources however, said that the protesters started pelting stones on the forces who retaliated by cane charging.
The locals alleged that forces targeted a woman who was sitting outside her house by a tear gas shell and she was injured.
In the north town of Shopian, angry youth defied curfew orders and pelted stones on forces in Bonegam chowk before the Friday prayers and the ding don battles continued for a couple of hours during which police and CRPF used tear smoke shells. Later after the prayers the protests spread up to Gagren area of the town. The clashes in Gagren were much severer and forces used dozens of tear gas shells which created havoc in the area. A youth namely Tariq Ahmad Mir son of Ghulam Hassan Mir resident of Gagren was injured by a shell. “Tariq could not be moved towards the district hospital due to strict curfew in place so we shifted him to nearby health centre of Vehil,” informed a local.
Meanwhile Police has started a crackdown on Mutahida Majlis-e-Mashawrat’ (MMM), to stop it from issuing any further protest calendars. Two of its members have been arrested and the raids are on to arrest others. MMM, was formed by the separatist parties and amalgams in the last week of February to chalk out a ‘joint strategy’ to seek the mortal remains of Afzal Guru, parliament attack convict hanged and buried in Tihar jail on February 9.
Police arrested Ghulam Nabi Zaki of Sopore and Ghulam Mohammad Nago. Zaki and Nago were representing Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq and Aga Syed Hassan respectively in the MMM.
However, sources revealed that both Mirwaiz and Agha Hassan have nominated two new representatives for the MMM immediatley after the arrest of Zaki and Nago.