By Sheikh Imran Bashir, Agence India Press
Srinagar: Indian Kashmir’s protests turned a new leaf on Thursday, July 15 as protestors occupied streets in a peaceful show of resistance, marking, perhaps, a new era in the movement in the troubled Himalayan region.
Street belligerence had brought Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir to a halt after city life began a tentative stir in the morning, and the Kashmiri separatist group Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani scored a hit as thousands in the summer capital and outlying towns held the streets in response to its call amid a total shutdown.
Relieved of restrictions after a number of days, the old city surged outdoors for sit-ins and protests on the roads, and mosques blared freedom slogans, as squatters chanted “Go India, Go.”
Notably in downtown old city of summer capital and adjoining the central Jamia Masjid (Grand Mosque) people laid mats in the central square and began a day-long sit in protest, holding road-side prayers at times, and being served water and rice by volunteers.
Similar scenes were repeated throughout the interior city, numerous uptowns areas and the Srinagar suburbs.
Mosque loudspeakers remained active till late in the evening with Islamic and freedom slogans to bolster street protestors who included the young and the old, male and female.
The protestors also pitched tents for shelter from the sun, and in Ganpatyaar, Habba Kadal areas of old city, the state police disrupted the sit-in with tear gas and cane charges, overturning the cooking vessels of community kitchens.
The Indian forces resorted to aerial firing in their assault on the peaceful squatters, and later imposed tight restrictions to prevent the demonstrators from reassembling.
Uptown areas of city too flared up with protests, as did other streets as mosques exhorted people to come out doors and take the streets.
Despite the frequent shutdown calls disrupting normalcy in the Kashmir Valley, locals vented their anger against the killings of civilians.
The protestors raised slogans demanding freedom and condemning innocent killings, and urged for restoration of peace in the valley.
However, shops, educational institutions, market places remained closed and public transportation was off the roads as the Valley remained shut for another day on Thursday.
The situation in the mainly Muslim Kashmir valley has been tense over the past few weeks due to repeated clashes between protestors and police personnel.
A curfew was imposed on Wednesday (June 30) in parts of northern and southern Kashmir, including the summer capital, Srinagar with intermittent relaxations.