Amarnath row: 10 killed, curfew in entire valley

Srinagar, Aug 12:

At least ten persons have been killed and scores injured in fresh rounds of violence in Jammu and Kashmir over the Amarnath land transfer controversy. Three were shot dead in Bandipore while two are reported dead in the Lasjan areas of the valley. In Jammu, two people were killed in a communal flare-up. Curfew remains imposed on Srinagar for the second day, with areas in Jammu also falling under the curfew. Security forces opened fire in several areas in the Valley killing three persons each in Aribal in Bandipora district and Lasjan in outskirts of Srinagar, and one protester each in Rainawari, Baghemahtab and Zoonmar, all in Srinagar area, and in Nagabal in Ganderbal region, official sources said. "We have imposed curfew in Kishtwar of Jammu region as a precautionary measure since 0600 hrs this morning," police said. Two people have been killed and fifteen injured in the area in a communal clash. Police fired teargas shells today when the agitators pelted stones at security personnel in Kishtwar, Deputy Inspector General Himant Lohia told agencies. The Army was called to assist police in the restoring normalcy after incidents of arson at some places, he said. With improvement in situation, curfew was relaxed in Samba and Udhampur districts for seven hours from 0500 hrs. In Jammu curfew, which entered the twelfth day today, has been given relaxation of 12 hours from 0500 hrs. "The situation is tense, but under control. No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in Jammu region in the past 24 hours," police said. Hurriyat leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz had died at a hospital in Srinagar on Monday after being critically injured in police firing at Chahal village in Baramulla district. He will be cremated today. Aziz was party of the fruit grower's march from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad. Four other people were killed in police firing at different places on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway. Five people were killed on Monday and hundreds were injured in day-long clashes between protestors and law enforcing agencies who had to resort to firing, teargas shelling and lathicharge in order to block the march towards Muzaffarabad. Mehbooba Mufti asks for lifting of blockadeMeanwhile PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti has demanded that the blockade be lifted to allow the essential goods into the valley. She told a channel that the Government needs to understand the cause of protests to rein in the violence.

Kashmir was a peaceful state and was indeed the pride of Indian secularism. But Pakistan, after losing Bangladesh, worked their evil over Kashmiri Muslims and this gave rise to the separatist movements. This was strengthened by the ideology of radical Islam. Kashmir has thus become a cauldron of Islamic fundamentalism, separatism and terrorism. Following the determination of Kashmiri Muslims not to grant “even one inch of land” to Amaranth temple, the cauldron has begun to boil. - K.Venugopal - Mumbai