Chaos engulfed parts of Srinagar on Monday as street violence made a stunning comeback after years of uneasy calm, with stone-pelting mobs clashing with security forces amid a Valley-wide shutdown against the assassination of Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The trigger for the violence appeared to be the decision of lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s administration to impose restrictions on protests, with the police sealing Srinagar’s Lal Chowk by erecting barricades to prevent a mass gathering.
Fourteen people, including six security personnel, were injured.
The administration on Sunday allowed people to take out large protest rallies, which ended without any violence. Officials said the restrictions were necessitated by apprehensions that the protests could morph into a massive anti-India show.
Stone throwing in Kashmir was common before the 2019 scrapping of the erstwhile state’s special status. An iron-fist policy, leading to the arrest of thousands, many under the Public Safety Act, had helped the government to put a lid on street violence, although militancy became more lethal and spread to districts in Jammu that were long declared militancy-free.
The mob that clashed with the security personnel on Monday was mainly made up of Shias, unlike in the past when most of the protesters would be Sunnis.
Thousands of people, including women and children, defied restrictions on Monday to take part in the protests for the second consecutive day.
Clashes broke out at several places on the Srinagar-Baramulla road, including Batamallo, Shalteng and HMT area. The police and paramilitary forces used tear gas shells to disperse the mobs.
At some places, the protesters dared the cops to shoot them.
Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, a Shia, condemned the police action. He shared a video where a policeman was seen thrashing women protesters.
“Bravo @JmuKmrPolice for this. Netanyahu must be happy with you,” he said in a post.
“@JmuKmrPolice has gone rogue. Today, they beat grieving mothers and sisters. Their masters in Delhi and Raj Bhavan are competing with Israel. They are suppressing a people for daring to feel,” he said in other.
He also appeared to be criticising chief minister Omar Abdullah for expressing concern over Khamenei’s killing.
“Those in Gupkar (where Omar lives) who have abandoned their people and offered nothing but hollow words of ‘concern’, remember, you will stand before Allah on a day when no office and no alliance will intercede for you,” Mehdi said.
The demonstrations so far have been largely anti-US and anti-Israel, but police sources said they might provide an opportunity for anti-India forces to come out of the woodwork.
A shutdown call announced by religious scholars led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq evoked a near-total response. Shops were shut and traffic remained suspended.
Schools, colleges shut
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Sunday announced a two-day closure of all schools, colleges and universities across Kashmir as a precautionary measure.
Education minister Sakina Itoo had said the decision was taken to ensure student safety amid protests in the Valley.
LG Sinha chaired a security review meeting on Sunday and urged people to stay peaceful and calm.