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| Govt, Geelani in competition to condemn Sopore | | Hurriyat (G), Police happy over shutdown on killing of two women | |
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Feb 4: Initially cornered by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over the separatist camp’s silence towards the brutal killing of two young women in Sopore, hardliner Hurriyat chief, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, is now on the forefront of condemning the carnage. Geelani’s call for shutdown evoked substantial response in the apple town where the state government agencies mobilized a rally of women that demanded exactly what the union Home Minister P Chidambaram desired in a meeting in Jammu---arrest of the killers at an earliest.
Few people mustered courage to visit Ghulam Nabi Dar’s two-room cottage in a wooden shack at Muslim Peer in Sopore on the day of his two young daughters’ funeral on Tuesday last. In contrast to massive funerals on similar deaths, perceived to be done by Police or the state’s armed forces, not more than a hundred residents attended the burial. Unmistakably at the receiving end of public anger, most of the separatist leaders have issued equivocal statements of condemnation after the NC leader’s dressing down in the last three days. Nevertheless, the scenes that Valley has witnessed for over 20 years on each incident of “state terrorism”, continue to be missing at the ground zero.
None among the separatist leaders has been audacious enough to assert against the public perception and held Police, paramilitary forces or counter-insurgents directly responsible for the carnage. Many of them have, however, begun efforts to neutralize the impact of the mainstream politicians’ criticism by issuing statements against the “unidentified killers”. While they seem to be weighing the options of visiting the victims’ family without giving an affront to militants, Geelani today broke the ice. He not only deployed a delegation of his Hurriyat to call on the bereaved family, but also enforced a shutdown in the hometown.
Reports said that most of the shops, business establishments and government offices remained shuttered and transport was off the road in Sopore. A procession of around 200 women took to the streets peacefully. The participants condemned the twin killing and demanded immediate arrest and prosecution of the killers. Informed sources insisted that Sopore Police provided a lot of facilitation and support to the thin rally. A thinner rally made similar expression of sentiments around Governor Narendra Nath Vohra’s office-cum-residence at Chashma Shahi.
On the other hand, Geelani’s supporters organized a rally at Press Enclave in the summer capital where the participant women, led by separatist activist Zamrooda Habib, widened their demand to condemnation and inquiry into all female slayings in the Valley since 1988. With placards in their hands and slogans on their lips, these women expressed apprehensions that the helpless people in Kashmir could resort to female feticide in near future in a big way if the Government failed to stop such slayings.
Geelani had restricted the shutdown to Sopore and asked people in rest of the Valley to register their strong protest at conclusion of the Friday afternoon prayers at community mosques today. Reports however indicated that there was little impact of his call with the exception of twin townships of Sopore and Baramulla.
In Baramulla town, scores of stone pelting youth engaged Police and CRPF in ding-dong clashes for over three hours in the afternoon and evening. Officials said that eight Police personnel, including an officer sustained injuries even as Police used tearsmoke and baton charges to disperse the crowds.
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