People at the rally in Srinagar on Friday. (AFP)

Srinagar, Aug. 22: Separatist politicians admitted helplessness in controlling the Valley’s protesters after enthusiasm turned to chaos at a huge rally today, thwarting the leaders from addressing the crowd.

“The genie is out of the bottle and we don’t know what to do with it,” a Hurriyat leader said as he watched a sea of people leave the venue without a single speech being made.

Tens of thousands had packed into the Idgah in Srinagar following a call by the separatists. After the Friday prayers, leaders such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Shabir Shah and Yasin Malik got ready to make speeches.

But the crowd, shouting pro-freedom and pro-Pakistan slogans, got too close to the podium and the leaders’ efforts to calm them proved futile.

Feeling suffocated, Geelani let himself be carried out of the venue on shoulders. The Mirwaiz, Shah and Malik, perched on the 15-foot-high brick platform, urged the crowd to sit down and listen. But in the din, nobody could make out what they were saying.

Then the public address system fell silent, its wires snapped by the unruly mob.

“There was a flood of people and we could not control them. The enthusiasm people are showing to our calls is beating our expectation,” said Massarat Alam, a Geelani associate.

The ever-growing size of the gatherings has had the leaders worried about how to “channel” the passion, separatist sources said. Even the calls to stop using certain provocative slogans are being ignored.

“Frankly, we don’t know how to make best use of the situation. We don’t know how long this popular passion will last,” a source said.

Many among the crowd were equally concerned. “Had we come for this? There is no discipline here,” a middle-aged man shouted.

Conscious that “lack of discipline might weaken the movement”, thousands shouted slogans saying “the movement has to go on”.

“I have lost my fruit crop because of the blocked highway (to Jammu) but our struggle is not about fruit. It’s about freedom and this time, I am sure, we’ll get it,” said Haji Ali Muhammad Mir, 65, from Sopore.

To keep the pot boiling, the separatists today announced a strike for two more days, to be followed by a march to Lal Chowk, the commercial hub of Srinagar.

If the leaders are perplexed how to control the mobs, the administration — reduced to a bystander long ago — is even more so. “We have used force, which has left many dead. But that did not deter people and led to more aggressive protests,” a senior official said.

The administration’s fears have worsened with the mainstream political parties rallying behind the separatists.

Srinagar mayor Salman Sagar, who is from the National Conference, had mobilised the civic body’s men and machinery to facilitate today’s programme by cleaning and levelling the Idgah grounds.

“The people are sincere in their demands for the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road to be opened and detainees to be released. People had to offer prayers at the Idgah, so we cleaned it,” Sagar said.

The administration had pulled the police and CRPF off most of the roads leading to the venue lest there be any confrontation. But officials said that as the rallies were growing, so was the pressure to contain them.

People had arrived at the Idgah in hundreds of buses, trucks, pick-up vans and motorbikes. Thousands of others, many waving green flags, came in foot processions. Thousands stood outside the crammed venue, chanting slogans.

Colonel, jawans shot

A colonel and two jawans died fighting militants today. The encounter in Kupwara’s Machil sector, a little away from the LoC, also left five militants dead. The gun battle continued even after the deaths until late tonight.

“Our colonel fought bravely before being hit by the militants’ bullets. He succumbed to his wounds. Two jawans were also killed,” defence spokesperson Lt Col A.K. Mathur said.

The identity of the colonel, from the RR Battalion, wasn’t disclosed.

The operation in the forest area had been launched following specific information about the presence of militants.

Police suspect the militants killed today might have sneaked in recently.

Today’s incident is the first major clash with militants since the protests over alleged economic blockade of the Valley, by Amarnath protesters in Jammu, erupted early this month.

Only six skirmishes with militants, an usually low number, have been reported over the past three weeks as security forces focus on containing the protests.