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| No shootout after 'shoot-at-sight' orders in Kashmir | | Geelani reaches back to his home, calls for 'only peaceful' demonstrations | | Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
EARLY TIMES REPORT
SRINAGAR, Aug 4: Media hype to "shoot-at-sight" orders today led to a situation in which Police and paramilitary forces had no occasion to open gunfire as the angry Kashmiris remained confined to their homes and did not clash with the authorities anywhere in the Valley. It was, thus, after several days of turbulence that not a single shot was fired and nobody was killed or injured. However, yet another civilian, who had sustained critical injuries in a shootout at Chhanpora last week, breathed his last at a hospital. Meanwhile, separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani asked the Kashmir to stop all violent means of "resistance" after he reached back to home from weeks of confinement at a special jail.
In the wake of media hype to "shoot-at-sight orders", that had in fact never been issued as Srinagar District Magistrate Mehraj Ahmed Kakru clarified later today, entire Kashmir valley remained confined to homes right from the morning. For several hours of the day, there was no violation of the curfew, now strictly in force all over the Valley.
Later in the day, some people gathered in Qamarwari outskirts of this capital city and they set on a condemned vehicle of Police. Reports from South Kashmir said that a mob torched a vehicle of IRP 9th Bn in Pampore and hundreds of people gathered at Shirmal in Shopian district and they torched two huts of Forest Protection Force. Some public properties were also reported torched in Baramulla and Kupwara.
An official spokesman claimed that there was no incident of violence or clash anywhere in the Valley today other than torching of a Police vehicle at Pampore and two FPF huts at Shirmal. He said: "In Shopian, an unruly mob attacked the Forest Protection Force complex comprising of about ten buildings and tried to set on fire the complex and the vehicles parked in the compound. Police party immediately reached the spot was able to save eight buildings and three vehicles. However, miscreants set ablaze two buildings and one Gypsy which gutted completely".
Reports, not confirmed by officials, said that Police and CRPF opened fire after a mob clashed with them at Dandarkhah in Batmaloo area. Another group of people shouted anti-India and pro-Azadi slogans after learning about the death of an injured youth of the locality at a hospital. Reports said that a minor clash took place with Police.
Officials said that "some minor clashes" took place in Valley between thin groups of youngsters and Police which dispersed when the authorities resorted to minor baton charge. They insisted that not a single bullet was fired anywhere in the Valley today as the people did neither violate curfew not indulged in violent clashes with Police and armed forces.
Reports from Pampore said that more than five thousand people assembled at Khrew to mourn the death of three civilians who had died in Police firing besides six others who got killed in an IED after torching local camp of SOG on Sunday last. They passed through several villages in a fleet of vehicles while shouting pro-Azadi, pro-Islam and anti-India slogans. Police and CRPF withdrew to clear way for the procession.
Official spokesman said that one Mohammad Iqbal Khan S/o Abdul Majeed Khan, who had sustained critical injuries in an incident of firing at Chhanpora on July 30th, today died at SKIMS, Soura. With this, as many as 46 civilians, mostly youth, have died in different incidents of clashes with Police and CRPF in Kashmir valley since June 11th. At least four more critically wounded civilians are still under treatment at SKIMS and two more hospitals in Srinagar.
Curfew was strictly enforced today amid reports that several companies of RAF were also arriving in to assist J&K Police and CRPF in controlling the riotous mobs. Army took control of entire national highway from Banihal to Uri late last night and the convoys, as well as Amarnath Yatra, passed peacefully.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the hardline faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, today reached back to his Hydewrpora residence after few weeks of confinement at a Forest Department hut at Cheshma Shahi. Geelani had been shifted to SKIMS, like on all of his previous detentions, after he complained of pain last week. Later Police withdrew the contingent holding him in custody at the hospital and told him that he was free to go home. The 85-year-old separatist leader, however, refused to leave and demanded release of all others who had been detained in the last several months. Government did not concede his demand.
Geelani was dropped today at his Hyderpora house. Immediately after reaching there, he called a press conference mainly to ask the angry Kashmiri youth not to resort of violent means of "resistance" like stone pelting and arson of public properties. He said that such incidents were highly detrimental to the interests of the separatist movement in Kashmir.
Geelani revealed that Chief Minister's Political Advisor, Devender Singh Rana, had met him at the Cheshma Shahi jail hut and conveyed to him on behalf of Omar Abdullah that government would permit his political activity in case there was no violence in it and the same remained peaceful. According to Geelani, he told Rana that Chief Minister was a puppet in the hands of New Ddelhi and his assurance had neither credibility nor consequence. He told him that all---NC, PDP, Congress---were in the field "only to promote New Delhi's agenda in J&K".
Geelani revealed that a delegation of three people, comprising Prof Amitabh Matoo, Admiral K K Nayyar and Ms Radha Kumar, had also met him on the same day on July 22 at Cheshma Shahi and asked him to participated in a dialogue with Government of India. He said that he told the delegation that India had been simply trumpeting the refrain of dialogue 'only to mislead the world" on Kashmir. He asserted that New Delhi had never shown any sincerity or seriousness in holding talks with the separatist leadership in Kashmir.
He ruled out joining any political process, until his basic demands of "revocation of AFSPA", "total demilitarization from J&K" and release of "all political detainees" were conceded.
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