Durbar back in Srinagar, clashes resume

Clashes were again reported between security forces and school students on Monday after they took out a protest march in south Kashmir's Pulwama district against the alleged high-handedness of security personnel, the police said.

The march, which was taken out in Tral area, was stopped by the security forces. Enraged over it, the students threw stones at security personnel, who in retaliation baton charged them.

The clashes were going on when reports last came in. Students were demanding action against security personnel who allegedly roughed up students during ongoing protests and the release of their arrested schoolmates.

The recent bout of protests was triggered by a police raid on Government Degree College, Pulwama, on April 15. Students, including girls, from schools and colleges have participated in the protests in large numbers.

These had prompted the authorities to suspend teaching in the higher educational institutions for over a week last month as a precautionary measure.

A number of students were arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.

Even as the state Secretariat opened in Srinagar for the next six month following the ‘Durbar Move’—a century old tradition under which the Secretariat works from Jammu for six months and from Srinagar the rest of the year, police detained independent MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid, when he and his supporters tried to take out a protest march.

Rashid, along with supporters of his Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), tried to take out the march from Magarmal Bagh towards the Civil Secretariat but a large contingent of police stopped them near the Exhibition Crossing.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) held a peaceful sit-in near party head office at Moulana Azad Road in Srinagar. The protest was led by JKPCC president Ghulam Ahmad Mir.

"There is no dialogue (with Hurriyat Conference), there is no headway on AFSPA, no talk on return of power projects, schools and colleges are closed, development has been halted and tourism stopped. So, what is this government for here now?” Mir asked.

Referring to Mufti's statement that only PM Narendra Modi can resolve the Kashmir issue as he had the support of the entire nation, Mir said the Prime Minister has not uttered a word about the Centre's Kashmir policy in three years.

"We have a democratic right to know on what basis did Mehbooba say that. People also want to know that," he said.