SRINAGAR: A youth has been severely injured after the police beat him up with batons during protests in downtown Srinagar, witnesses say.
Hundreds of youth, led by senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, took out a protest demonstration after Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid or the Grand Mosque.
They demanded that government of India return the body of Muhammad Afzal Guru who was hanged at the Tihar jail in Delhi on Feb 9 and buried there.
The protesters dispersed peacefully at Rajouri Kadal where the Mirwaiz addressed protesters. But a few youth moved towards a bunker of the paramilitary CRPF at Saraf Kadal area and threw stones at it, triggering violent clashes.
Our reporter says he saw police and paramilitary hitting one youth with batons and kicking him after they caught hold of him. He says the youth seemed to be severely injured and was sent to hospital for treatment.
This was the first Friday sermon by the Mirwaiz in many weeks now. He was placed under house arrest by the authorities, like many other separatist leaders, after the hanging of Guru.
While others, including senior separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani, continue to be either jailed or under house arrest, the Mirwaiz was released Thursday after he moved court.
The fresh clashes come just days after shops in the old quarters of Srinagar city opened; they were closed for four days since Saturday last.
Shopkeepers demanded that the bunkers at Saraf Kadal and nearby Kawdara locality be removed as “they were the cause of protests which affected business”.
The shops opened after a meeting with the authorities, who assured the businessmen that the bunkers will be removed in two weeks time, sources said.
