Ordinary people in the state see the official probes into such incidents as a mere eyewash because such inquiries have rarely led to anybody’s prosecution.
Rakib Altaf
SRINAGAR: Almost the entire valley of Kashmir has been brought under a blanket of curfew to prevent anti-India protests.
The valley is seething with anger over the killings of Muslim protesters by the Border Security Force in Ramban area of Jammu region.
While a curfew has been imposed in major towns of Ramban district, other Muslim-majority towns in Jammu region are observing a shutdown.
On Thursday, BSF soldiers fired at thousands of Muslims protesting sacrilege of the holy Quran in Gool village, 130 km from here. Six persons were reported dead while more than 40 were wounded. The authorities have confirmed only 4 deaths.
The protests happened after BSF soldiers stormed into an Islamic seminary late on Wednesday night where they beat up a cleric and tore pages of the Quran.
The BSF has denied that they entered the seminary or desecrated the Quran. They say they had only stopped the cleric for questioning while he moved in suspicious circumstances.
They said they had fired in self defence after “a violent mob” attacked their camp.
In the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley protests erupted immediately as the news came in.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has regretted the killings and ordered a probe. He has assured that if the BSF were found guilty of excessive use of force or irresponsible behaviour they would be strictly dealt with.
Earlier the state’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had lodged a strong protest with the Shinde.
Abdullah has termed the killings as “unacceptable”, “deplorable” and “Unjustified”.
However, ordinary people in the state see the official probes into such incidents as a mere eyewash because such inquiries have rarely led to anybody’s prosecution.
Octogenarian separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani called for a three day shutdown from today, while the JKLF chief Muhammad Yasin Malik had urged people to converge at the Lalchowk in Srinagar for a protest rally today.
The authorities are fearful of a repeat of the summer unrest which rocked the state, particularly the valley, in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Reports from Ganderbal say two persons received injuries after the police and paramilitaries fired pellet guns to break up a demonstration after the Friday prayers.
In Qazigund area of south Kashmir, the police fire into the air and also lobbed tear smoke shells to disperse more than a thousand people who held demonstrations at the main square and also on the Srinagar-Jammu National highway.
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