The volatile situation in the Kashmir Valley took a turn for the
worse on Tuesday when five civilians were killed and 52 injured,
including 24 security men, prompting mainstream political parties to
express concern over the “shrinking political space.”
While four
persons died in Budgam district, one was killed in Anantnag. Locals in
Budgam alleged that a CRPF patrol team opened fire “directly at
stone-throwing protesters” in the morning, killing two on the spot. Two
others died in hospital.
The locals said there was no attempt to
fire pellet shotguns or tear-gas shells to disperse the crowd. “The CRPF
fired to kill. All victims died of bullet injuries,” one resident
alleged. Five of the injured were shifted to Srinagar hospitals.
A
police spokesman, however, claimed that the crowd tried to snatch
weapons from security personnel, forcing them to open fire. “Twenty-two
personnel were injured in clashes in Budgam district,” the spokesman
said.
In a separate incident in Anantnag, security forces opened
fire at a procession, killing a youth and injuring 11 others. In the
afternoon, a mob set fire to the house of a local Army man in Anantnag
district.
Fresh violence forced the authorities to stringently continue with curfew restrictions in large parts of the Valley.
No
movement of locals and vehicles were allowed in the Valley, where
Internet services remained shut and mobile phone services suspended.
In Srinagar’s Batamaloo area, violent protests left two policemen injured where a protester died on Monday.
Hurriyat
faction chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has asked people to march towards
the United Nations office in Srinagar as the death toll of civilians
touched 65 since July 8, the day militant commander Burhan Wani was
killed. Separatists have asked people to hold sit-in protests in their
localities on Wednesday.
Mainstream political parties, meanwhile,
claimed they were losing space because of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti
and the Centre’s failure to control the situation.
“Six protesters
dead in Kashmir in the past 24 hours but let’s sort out Balochistan
since we are doing such a good job in J&K at the moment,” tweeted
former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Mr. Abdullah said he would
hold a meeting of all Opposition parties in Srinagar on Wednesday to
“deliberate on the role that can be played by mainstream parties.”
Meanwhile,
the Army claimed that the five infiltrators killed near the LoC in Uri
on Monday were planning “a major attack in J&K.”
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