By Johan Simith
Srinagar, August 04: One more youth, who was critically injured on Friday last in firing by security forces in the Chanpora locality of Srinagar , succumbed to injuries in the hospital even as mobs continued to defy curfew restrictions in the Jammu and Kashmir capital.
Iqbal Ahmad Khan (18) had received a critical bullet injury on his head during protests in Chanpora and had been admitted to the Soura Medical Institute where after an operation on Friday he had been put on the life support system.
Khan's injury had triggered protests and violence across the Valley on Friday in which so far 28 persons, mostly youth, have been killed and 180 others, including police and paramilitary personnel, wounded.
Since early Wednesday morning, loudspeaker-fitted police jeeps were making rounds in various parts of the city warning residents to stay indoors and not to violate the round-the-clock curfew, which is in force without a break since Friday.
However, mobs defied curfew restrictions in some parts of Srinagar and staged protests against the recent alleged human rights violations.
Thousands of people marched to south Kashmir's Khrew town where a peaceful rally was held in the afternoon.
Shouting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, people, using all modes of transport available, reached the town where seven persons, including a 17-year-old girl, were killed in Pampore on Sunday.The youngster clambered up a telecommunication tower and hoisted a green flag as onlookers shouted pro-Pakistan slogans during a protest in Pampore on today.
About 8 km south of Srinagar, the road seems to end. Hundreds of trucks, cars and motorbikes block the path. The men shout "azadi" and "Allah-u-Akbar" (God is great) in collective frenzy, Sheikh Aziz Teray Khoon Say Inqlaab Aachuka. They are all heading to Khrewa-Pampore, about 15 km from Srinagar, for the martyars memorial service.
There's no way you can proceed on the highway; so we take a detour through a dirty makeshift road past the stone quarries, the brick kilns and the shanty tenements of the Bihari labourers. There's Jhelum on one side with thick groves lining the embankment; the other side is lush with paddy fields. On the side, women sing songs saluting the 'martyrs' and kids offer free soft drinks to protestors.
But it's only when one steps into Pampore, famous for its saffron fields, that the real magnitude of the gathering becomes evident. It looks like most of Kashmir has turned up. The political mobilisation seems to have worked. Crowd estimates are always dicey — but some estimate the Pampore gathering at perhaps 1 lac. There's a sea of heads on the streets, rooftops, lanes, walls, even on telephone towers.
Over 100,000 people. One show of outrage. No violence. But there was something that hadn’t been there for a long time: pro-Pakistan slogans, Pro-Sheikh Aziz slogans.Such protest pictures should tell anyone with an unbiased opinion, that support (even military) for the people of Kashmir is not terrorism, but occupation by Indian troops, is terrorism.
Srinagar, August 04: One more youth, who was critically injured on Friday last in firing by security forces in the Chanpora locality of Srinagar , succumbed to injuries in the hospital even as mobs continued to defy curfew restrictions in the Jammu and Kashmir capital.
Iqbal Ahmad Khan (18) had received a critical bullet injury on his head during protests in Chanpora and had been admitted to the Soura Medical Institute where after an operation on Friday he had been put on the life support system.
Khan's injury had triggered protests and violence across the Valley on Friday in which so far 28 persons, mostly youth, have been killed and 180 others, including police and paramilitary personnel, wounded.
Since early Wednesday morning, loudspeaker-fitted police jeeps were making rounds in various parts of the city warning residents to stay indoors and not to violate the round-the-clock curfew, which is in force without a break since Friday.
However, mobs defied curfew restrictions in some parts of Srinagar and staged protests against the recent alleged human rights violations.
Thousands of people marched to south Kashmir's Khrew town where a peaceful rally was held in the afternoon.
Shouting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, people, using all modes of transport available, reached the town where seven persons, including a 17-year-old girl, were killed in Pampore on Sunday.The youngster clambered up a telecommunication tower and hoisted a green flag as onlookers shouted pro-Pakistan slogans during a protest in Pampore on today.
About 8 km south of Srinagar, the road seems to end. Hundreds of trucks, cars and motorbikes block the path. The men shout "azadi" and "Allah-u-Akbar" (God is great) in collective frenzy, Sheikh Aziz Teray Khoon Say Inqlaab Aachuka. They are all heading to Khrewa-Pampore, about 15 km from Srinagar, for the martyars memorial service.
There's no way you can proceed on the highway; so we take a detour through a dirty makeshift road past the stone quarries, the brick kilns and the shanty tenements of the Bihari labourers. There's Jhelum on one side with thick groves lining the embankment; the other side is lush with paddy fields. On the side, women sing songs saluting the 'martyrs' and kids offer free soft drinks to protestors.
But it's only when one steps into Pampore, famous for its saffron fields, that the real magnitude of the gathering becomes evident. It looks like most of Kashmir has turned up. The political mobilisation seems to have worked. Crowd estimates are always dicey — but some estimate the Pampore gathering at perhaps 1 lac. There's a sea of heads on the streets, rooftops, lanes, walls, even on telephone towers.
Over 100,000 people. One show of outrage. No violence. But there was something that hadn’t been there for a long time: pro-Pakistan slogans, Pro-Sheikh Aziz slogans.Such protest pictures should tell anyone with an unbiased opinion, that support (even military) for the people of Kashmir is not terrorism, but occupation by Indian troops, is terrorism.
“More than love for Pakistan, it is anger against India that makes people raise pro-Pakistan slogans,” explains Sheikh GULZAAR, editor of the Writer-South Asia. “Pro-Pakistani slogans are mostly raised near CRPF and army bunkers and positions. That reveals the state of mind of the slogan shouters”. (Writer-South Asia)
