By Sheikh Imran Bashir, Agence India Press
Srinagar: Indian army undertakes another flag march in Srinagar on Thursday. Earlier on Wednesday July 07, seventeen columns of army soldiers conducted flag marches following widespread violence in the Batamaloo and Maisuma localities of the city.
Army in Srinagar on Thursday [AIP Photo]
Army was deployed in Srinagar on the night of Tuesday July 06, to control the situation in curfew-bound areas.
Tens of thousands of soldiers continue to patrol the streets of Kashmir, enforcing a rigid curfew aimed at ending weeks of violent protests.
Early morning, police vehicles fitted with loud speakers made announcements in the city that curfew will remain in force for the second consecutive day. The announcements warned people of stern action, if the curfew was violated.
But people in Ganderbal, came out of their homes defying restrictions and held pro-freedom and anti government protests.
According to reports police opened fire after repeated tear gassing failed to deter the demonstrators who were protesting police and CRPF high handedness in the area.
Eyewitnesses told Agence India Press that the police action turned the protesters furious. They pelted stones and rocks on the CRPF men and police sparking off fierce clashes. The clashes continued for some time.
According to the report earlier people in Kirhama area held a peaceful protest which was disrupted by police. No sooner had the people left the venue of protest, CRPF and policemen barged into homes beating up residents indiscriminately without any regard for gender.
This, according to the report, infuriated people and announcements were made through mosque loudspeakers asking people to come out of their homes to protest.
Soon a massive protest demonstration erupted in the area prompting police and CRPF to intervene again. This resulted in a clash between the two sides with protesters hurling stones at the forces and latter resorting to aerial firing and heavy tear gas shelling. Several persons were injured in the forces’ action. At least one of the injured, Mushtaq Ahmad Mir of Kirhama, was reportedly hit by a teargas shell. He was immediately shifted to Soura Medical Institute where according to the report his condition was said to be serious.
On Wednesday night, thousands of protesters defied the restrictions for a few hours and held street protests. Pro-independence songs rang out overnight from the public address systems of several mosques.
Sopore town and old parts of Baramulla were placed under curfew as a precautionary measure, official sources said.
Curfew was also being enforced strictly in Srinagar, where four persons were killed in alleged firing by security forces on Tuesday.
Even as army stage flag march in city, doctors, paramedical and administrative staff today held a protest demonstration in the hospital premises against the CRPF who they alleged had raided the casualty section last night when a person injured in police action was being treated there. Troopers allegedly beat up staff, patients and attendants there provoking protests.
They were also protesting to express their resentment at the attitude of authorities.
Army in Srinagar on Thursday [AIP Photo]
Home Minister P. Chidambaram said it is important that people do not come onto the streets and start throwing stones. He said the army will be in Kashmir as long as necessary.
Meanwhile, life remained crippled for the fourth consecutive day today across the Valley due to the imposition of indefinite curfew by the state government.
Thousands of CRPF troops and policemen equipped with riot gear and sophisticated arms manned lanes, by-lanes, roads and the deserted streets of the capital city to enforce the curfew and foil the pro-freedom demonstrations.
Government is likely to relax curfew for a few hours on Friday and on Saturday to allow people to participate religious prayers, another news agency reported today.
The agency quoting unnamed sources said, the government may relax curfew for few hours to allow people to offer the Friday prayers and congregational gathering on Saturday on the eve of Mehraj Alam.
The government deployed its army to the volatile region for the first time in two decades Wednesday after weeks of protests killed at least 14 people.
Curfew was imposed on June 30 in parts of northern and southern Kashmir, including the Srinagar to stop demonstrations over the recent killings.
However, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has convened an all party meeting on Monday, July 12, 2010 at 3 p.m at Srinagar to discuss the prevailing situation in Valley.
The meeting will be preceded by another meeting of legislators of coalition partners National Conference and Congress on Sunday.
As authorities canceling curfew passes given to journalists, nearly 60 newspapers published from Srinagar hit the stands Thursday. Many reporters spent the night in their offices.
Journalists have described the government move as an attempt to muzzle the press in Kashmir.
Journalists covering the recent protests were also attacked by the forces resulting in the injuries to at least 12 of them.
In this regard, Press Guild of Kashmir has expressed serious resentment against the government that has virtually banned the local media but was extending all facilities to media persons coming from Delhi and other parts of India to cover the situation here.
In a statement issued here today, a spokesman of the Guild said that while the authorities have put curbs on local media, cancelled the curfew passes earlier issued to local media persons and therefore no local newspaper could get published Thursday, media crews coming from Delhi and elsewhere were provided all facilities to cover the situation. Journalists working for national and International print and electronic media were also denied access and continue to be confined to their homes, while their counterparts who came from Delhi and other parts are roaming free to cover the events, said the spokesman adding that this treatment is condemnable. He pointed out that even the cameras of Srinagar based reporters working for TV channels were seized.
“This is sheer discrimination against Srinagar based media persons and media organizations,” the spokesman said.
Questioning the government’s intentions, the Guild spokesman said that it has been a practice all along that in crisis situations the governments, which are, curb the local media and facilitate access to favourites from outside state.
“This happened during Kargil war in 1999 too when local media was denied access to the information and media crews were brought from Delhi to cover the situation,” the spokesman said, wondering what the government was trying to convey by adopting such discriminatory approach.
“Without declaring officially, a blanket ban has been imposed on local media. But the media persons from outside Kashmir are free to visit any locale and cover all the events,” added the spokesman.
Meanwhile, The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Thursday said that it was deeply disturbed at the drastic erosion of the atmosphere for journalism, following month-long civil disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued here, IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said, “Cities in the Kashmir valley have been under curfew for a number of days since widespread demonstrations began in the region early in June. On July 7, as the army was summoned out of its barracks, the curfew was extended to cover the movement of all civilians, and word was put out that press passes would no longer be honoured.”
“The situation resulted in all Kashmir’s media personnel being confined to home. Photographers and news cameramen in the capital, Srinagar, were assaulted as they sought to record the day’s events. Some had their professional equipment confiscated by security agencies,” Park said.
“The day’s incidents followed similar occurrences on July 6, when at least 12 photographers working for local, national and international media were assaulted in Srinagar and suffered injuries of various degrees of seriousness, as security forces sought to restrain them from recording ongoing demonstrations,” Park said.
Park said, “Targeting and blaming the messenger is not an appropriate response for official agencies in Kashmir as they seek to restore civic peace.”
“The IFJ urges authorities in Jammu and Kashmir to follow a policy of transparency and accountability rather than seek to throttle the flow of news, whether good or bad,” Park said.
“The heavy-handed response seen so far creates an atmosphere where rumour and innuendo flourish, further embittering civic relations,” Park added further.
The IFJ has extends its support to the media community of the state, gathered on the platform of the Press Guild of Kashmir, which has strongly denounced the curbs imposed on media by state authorities and the use of force against media personnel.
Meanwhile The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has suspended six police officers blamed for the death of three youths in firing in Anantnag district, south of the Kashmir.
“The officers shall remain suspended until the inquiry against them is over,” a national news channel reported on Thursday.