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| SP, Dy SP among 40 injured in clashes on day 3 of Geelani strike in Valley | | Mehbooba marches to Shopian but PDP rally attacked at 3 places | | Nobody sheds tears on 16-year-old girl student gunned down by militants in Shopian
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Jun 3: While none among the Valley’s politicians today cried over the brutal killing of a 16-year-old girl student gunned down by militants in Shopian-Pulwama belt of South Kashmir, nearly 40 persons, including two Police officers, sustained injuries in clashes between demonstrators and Police happening here since last weekend over the alleged rape-and-murder of two young women in Shopian. Separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been taken into custody by Police but not before he extended his call for shutdown to two more days.
Authoritative sources told Early Times that a group of militants barged into the residence of a Gujjar, namely Mohammad Sharief Aawan, at Pahlipora in Kellar belt of south Kashmir, between Shopian and Pulwama, and dragged his 16-year-old daughter, Nigeena, out. Without any questioning, militants opened fire, killing the Class 10th student on spot. Reports said that even after killing the teenager, militants warned her family members and neighbours against holding any funeral rites for Nigeena. Though motive of the assassination was not clear immediately, residents stated that she had been labeled as informer of security forces.
Last week on May 30th, two young women---25-year-old Neelofar Jan (married) and 17-year-old Asiya (unmarried, class 11th student)---had been found dead in outskirts of Shopian township in South Kashmir. With nobody shedding tears over Nigeena, Kashmiri politicians have selectively condemned the death of the two young women and slammed the charge of “rape-and-murder” against soldiers of a paramilitary CRPF camp in advance of a post mortem report from Forensic Science Laboratory. Consequently, Valley has been reeling under an infinite sequence of violent demonstrations and clashes between people and Police.
On the third consecutive day of the shutdown, called by hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, nearly 40 persons, including 16 Police and CRPF personnel, today sustained injuries in clashes at different places in Srinagar and some other towns. While unofficial reports said that demonstrators clashed with Police and CRPF at more than 50 places in Srinagar, Shopian, Sopore, Baramulla and some other towns, in which nearly 100 persons sustained injuries, officials confirmed that some 40 persons, including 16 personnel, had sustained “minor to medium” injuries. Those injured in today’s clashes include SP Special Operations Group (SOG) Srinagar, Irshad Ahmed, and a Dy SP of the elite Special Security Group (SSG), Sajjad Ahmed.
Informed sources said that there was near-total shutdown all over the Valley as few shops were seen open for business and few private and official vehicles operated on the roads. Like on the last two days, most of the government and private offices, educational institutes, banks and business establishments remained closed. While Geelani was about to address a news conference, which has become a matter of daily routine at his residence, a Police contingent from Budgam created barriers on Srinagar-Airport Road, blocked the entry of mediapersons towards Hyderpora and whisked away the 76-year-old separatist leader to a detention centre at Humhama.
However, Geelani and his Hurriyat (G) General Secretary, Ghulam Nabi Sumji, asked the Kashmiris through media that they should continue the “protest” for two more days. Geelani had initially called the shutdown for one day but later extended it to June 3. He has now extended it to June 5 next.
Sources said that Police restricted the movement of common people in uptown Srinagar and enforced curfew without a formal announcement in downtown. Thin groups of demonstrators appeared on the streets at more than 20 places in downtown as well as at Rambagh, Solina and Jawahar Nagar in uptown, shouted pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans, demanded arrest of the “guilty personnel” and punishment to them all and also burnt rubber tyres. Reports said that Police retaliated with firing of rubber bullets at Bemina crossing and Batmaloo but restricted its force to retaliatory stone pelting and tearsmoke at other places.
Sources said that SP SOG Srinagar, Irshad Ahmed, was hit with a stone in his head when demonstrators were clashing with CRPF at Batmaloo after torching one of the bunkers. Soldiers allegedly trooped into residential houses after the attack and thrashed dozens of civilians. SP Irshad said that he sustained injuries in his head and was discharged from hospital after getting four stitches on the wound.
While the shutdown, undeclared curfew and clashes continued in Srinagar and other parts of Valley in the backdrop of 20% voter turnout in the polling in Hazratbal Assembly segment, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti led her rally of MLAs and senior party leaders to Shopian. Even as she managed to arrive in Shopian town under heavy Police and SSG protection and called on the bereaved family, hostile crowds subjected her to a series of attacks at the district headquarters and also at Shirmal and Tukroo villages on Srinagar-Shopian Road.
Informed sources and eyewitnesses in Shopian said that entire Police and paramilitary bandobust had been removed to clear the way for PDP rally. Mehbooba was received by Neelofar’s father at Arhama village and later carried in a 500-strong procession to the house of Abdul Gani Ahangat at Bongam in the main town.
As the PDP leader and her MLAs were expressing their sympathies to the bereaved family, hostile crowds raised pro-Azadi and pro-Geelani slogans followed by anti-PDP slogans. SSG and Police guards threw a close cordon around Mehbooba but still the angry men rushed on the hoods of the PDP leaders’ vehicles and threw their footwear to register their protest against the mainstream leaders’ visit. It was in this melee that SSG’s Dy SP, Sajjad Ahmed, was injured and one of the PDP chief’s PSOs lost a loaded magazine of his automatic rifle. Escorted by armed guards, Mehbooba was chased away by scores of men. She took shelter inside Police Station but the mobs outside raised anti-PDP slogans and resorted to heavy stone pelting on the Police Station.
SP Shopian, Javed Matoo, confirmed that the PDP leaders were subjected to attacks at Shopian, Shirmal and Tukroo but he asserted that Police and their guards saved them from receiving injuries as all of them were first protected at Police Station and later carried out of the town in bullet-proof Rakhshak vehicles. He said that Police used minimal retaliatory force to ensure that there were no civilian casualties. However, he said, a number of vehicles were hit with stones. He said that Mehbooba had earlier insisted on holding a rally at Gol Chakri but later she decided to return to Srinagar.
Sources as well as Police officials said that a Hurriyat activist, namely Maulvi Tariq, also appeared in the same locality with over 1,000 residents who souted pro-Geelani, pro-Azadi and anti-forces slogans. Sources said that during her hour-long stay at Police Station, PDP chief insisted that Police should convert FIR under section 174 (death in mysterious circumstances) into a matter of rape-cum-murder.
Back home in Srinagar, Mehbooba held the ruling National Conference activists responsible for engineering and carrying out attacks on the PDP rally. She said it was strange that Police had not even registered a case of rape-and-murder after such allegations came from family members and thousands of residents. She claimed that during her interaction with members of the bereaved family, she had learned that both the young ladies had been subjected to severe physical violence, raped and subsequently murdered.
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