SRINAGAR: A strict curfew is in force in Kashmir capital Srinagar and all major towns to prevent violent anti-India protests over the killing of a youth by security forces.
Senior separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq had called upon people to observe a complete protest strike and hold demonstrations.
Thousands of police and paramilitaries in riot gear patrol streets and rolls of concertina wire block entry to roads and streets, witnesses say. At many places police vans fitted with loudspeakers made rounds warning residents not to venture out of their homes.
Normal life has been disrupted in the valley since Feb 9 when Afzal Guru was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar jail. Six people have been killed since then, mostly by security forces.
The valley was placed under a curfew for seven consecutive days after Guru’s execution. The situation had just started limping back to normal when the mysterious death of a Kashmiri student in Hyderabad caused a fresh wave of unrest.
Many in Kashmir believe that Mudasir Kamran, a PhD scholar was killed by “Hindu fanatics” or the police after his participation in protest demonstrations over Guru’s execution. The Hyderabad police say he committed suicide.
Last Friday the entire valley was under a blanket of curfew to prevent violent demonstrations over the killing of a 27-year-old youth, Tahir Ahmed Sofi by the Army in north Kashmir’s Baramulla town. Parts of Kashmir had already been under a curfew and elsewhere people had observed a strike since March 4.
The latest to come is the killing of Altaf Ahmed Wani who died on Wednesday afternoon in firing by paramilitary CRPF in Saidapora area near Eidgah in Srinagar.
The incident happened barely hours after 5 CRPF personnel were killed after militants attacked their camp at Bemina in Srinagar.
The killing has caused deep shock and anger in Kashmir valley, where a 23 year old armed resistance against New Delhi’s rule is waning.
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul, who represents the Eidgah assembly constituency, said the late Wani was associated with the ruling National Conference and had no connection with any separatist group.
Nasir Aslam Wani, provincial president of the NC, called the man’s killing a “cold-blooded murder” and asked for a judicial probe into the firing incident.
