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| VALLEY VIOLENT OVER CAPITAL PUNISHMENT VERDICT | | MANY INJURED IN DING DONG BATTLES WITH POLICE | |
Srinagar, Sept 27, 06: Soon after television channels ran the scroll that a Kashmiri youth Mohammad Afzal Guru–who was convicted for his role in Indian Parliament attack case of December 2001, will be hanged till death in Delhi's Tihar Central Jail on October 20, the residents of Sopore–Guru's hometown, staged massive protests on Tuesday late afternoon, and since early Wednesday morning people in hundreds protested on Srinagar streets against the death penalty verdict.
Infuriated protesters pelted stones on police personnel following which Police resorted to cane-charge and teargas shelling, leaving at least a dozen of protesters injured in Maisuma area of Srinagar.
In Maisuma–the bastion of JKLF, women supporters of the group remained engaged in ding-dong battles with the Police for quite a time. Claiming that Afzal Guru was one-time a member of the JKLF group, protesters said India was planning "genocide of Kashmiris".
Among the protesters were activists of pro-freedom Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front led by Mohammad Yasin Malik, women outfits Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM), Muslim Khwateen Markaz (MKM) – a constituent of Syed Ali Shah Geelani led Hurriyat Conference, Muslim League (ML), and Geelani's faction of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).
Chanting pro-freedom slogans and demanding withdrawal of death penalty verdict and immediate release of Guru, the JKLF activists including Noor Mohammad Kalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Sheikh Mohammad Aslam and others said the capital punishment verdict will hamper the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan.
Police later took Yasin Malik along with his 20 odd activists into preventive custody. JKLF activists were lodged in Kothi Bagh Police Station.
Protesters had also come to Srinagar all the way from Sopore. A young Kashmiri girl who identified herself as Asiya from the 'apple town' told 'KIP': "If India hangs our hero Afzal Guru till death thousands of Guru's will take birth to avenge the unjustified killing. Let Indian establishment, Army and agencies know that we'll not be cowed down by such tactics from India, and the freedom struggle against Indian rule will be taken to its logical end, come what may!"
Khalid Faridi, another protester from Guru's hometown said: "India's democracy is farce. India has killed tens of thousands of Kashmiris and they will continue to do so, but we're not afraid. We will wage 'jehad' (holy war) against occupational troops and Indian establishment".
In the eyes of an old protester Guru's situation reminded him of JKLF's founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat–who was hanged till death on February 11, 1984 in Tihar jail.
"Only five years after Maqbool Bhat's death we saw an armed rebellion in 1989 which shook New Delhi, but it has not learned its lessons well. By hanging Afzal till death, India will only complicate problems for herself, and the day is not far when every Kashmiri will be holding gun against her," he said.
Chairperson of MKM, Yasmeen Raja who led a separate protest demonstration said that her party condemns the verdict with regard to death penalty of Mohammad Afzal Guru. "We've assembled here to protest against the Indian judiciary and its decision to hang Afzal till death on October 20. As soon as we heard this news, our hearts started weeping," she said.
All the major anti-India political forces in Kashmir have deplored the court verdict against Afzal Guru. Shahid-ul-Islam, spokesperson of a faction of APHC led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said in a statement that Guru's death penalty verdict will prove a setback to the ongoing Indo-Pak peace process and the composite dialogue vis-à-vis Kashmir resolution. Syed Ali Shah Geelani said that on one hand India parrots peace process and on the other continues to kill Kashmiris on one or the other pretext. |
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