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| Centre talks tough as violent clashes erupt in J&K over Masarat Alam's arrest | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Apr 17: Violent protests broke out in the state capital after separatist leader Masarat Alam was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday. Commenting on the developments in the Valley today, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said there would be no compromise in matters of national security. "The state government will take whatever is required in the interest of the nation," he said and added that those indulging in anti-national activities will not be spared. The J&K Police had to use tear gas and resort to lathicharge to disperse the crowd, which was heading for a march in Tral town of Pulwama district.
Under pressure from the Centre, the J&K Police arrested Alam, ahead of his rally in Tral this morning.
The 45-year-old hardline separatist leader was arrested for having allegedly waved a Pakistani flag to greet Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani during a rally in Srinagar some days back.
"Alam has been arrested in the case, registered in Budgam police station in connection with the provocative actions during the rally on Wednesday," a senior police officer said. Police have imposed Section 13A(unlawful activities), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 147 (riots), 427 (damage to public property) under CrPC on Alam. The arrest comes a day after Alam and Geelani were placed under house arrest to prevent them from leading the rally in Tral.
Earlier today, Alam said that the J&K government doesn't want the rally to be successful and that is why such an action has been taken. The separatist leader opined that the administration should follow the Hurriyat program.
"Let the government do whatever it wants to, the people are being stopped for attending that rally, but they will attend," Alam said.
Reacting to Alam's arrest, BJP leader Siddharth Anand Singh justified J&K Government's move and said that nobody can raise pro-Pakistan slogans or waive Pakistan flags. He further said that the government will continue to function keeping the national interest at the forefront.
Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh today said the state government will act tough against them and not tolerate their 'provocative' actions in J&K again. "We will act again, if any such incident (of provocative activities and hoisting Pakistani flag) is repeated. We are not going to tolerate it," Singh told reporters here today. "Jammu and Kashmir government has taken the cognizance, it's capable of taking appropriate actions and is doing so," he added. Union Minister Jitendra Singh and BJP leader said the action has been taken in accordance with the law. Alam has been arrested to uphold national interest and there will be no compromise on this front, Singh asserted.
"As far as the BJP leadership is concerned, both at the centre as well as the state, our stand has been very consistent as far as nationalism is concerned, patriotism is concerned and we follow a principle of zero-tolerance towards the terrorism and towards separatism," Singh said.
The People's Democratic Party (PDP) said Alam had been arrested under procedure and not due to the pressure reportedly brought on it by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh or Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq accused the army of killing youths after labelling them terrorists. "There is no arrest, no FIR. The government has to put an end to state terrorism," he said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Digvijay Singh took to his Twitter account and wrote: "Want to know under what sections Alam and Geelani have been arrested." |
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