A video uploaded by the BBC this afternoon on Twitter and a Reuters report from Srinagar on August 9 have both confirmed that a large protest did take place at Saura in Srinagar, where several thousands of people are said to have assembled.
The BBC's exclusive video, in which there was sound of firearms multiple times, and the Reuters report are contrary to Delhi's version that small sporadic incidents of violence were reported in Kashmir, and that there is nothing much to worry about.
According to the Reuters report, police used tear gas and pellets to fight back at least 10,000 people protesting Delhi's withdrawal of special rights to Jammu and Kashmir. The demonstration happened soon after Friday prayers for which security was relaxed for the first time so that residents could go to their local mosques.
A large group of people gathered in Saura, a police officer said, in violation of orders that prohibit the assembly of more than four people.
The crowd was pushed back by police at Aiwa bridge, where a witness said tear gas and pellets were used against them. “Some women and children even jumped into the water,” a witness told Reuters at Srinagar's Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, where pellet victims were admitted.
For the last three days, the government in Delhi has tried to project a picture of Jammu and Kashmir that would encourage citizens in other parts of India, who are cut off from the state, to think that peace will return with a bit of cajoling by the Centre.
Yesterday, during a news conference, spokesperson Raveesh Kumar of the external affairs ministry downplayed the tension in Kashmir and deflected attention towards Pakistan, saying that Islamabad should learn to accept India's new reality.
On August 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attempted to paint a picture of a prosperous Jammu and Kashmir of the future that would be a destination for film shootings, both Indian and foreign. He said if development work progressed as expected, Jammu and Kashmir would cease to stay a Union territory.
On August 7, national security advisor Ajit Doval was seen having lunch by a roadside with some local men in Shopian, south Kashmir, while all the surrouding shops on the road remained shuttered in the middle of a state-wide lockdown. When Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad scoffed at Doval's video, a BJP leader said Azad should apologise as his words could be used by Pakistan to campaign against India on Kashmir.
This morning, an unnamed home ministry official said: 'There have been a few stray protests in Srinagar/Baramulla and none of these involved a crowd of more than 20 people.' The spokesperson also dismissed a media report about the protest by about 10,000 people in Kashmir as 'fabricated and incorrect'.
The earliest images and reports from within Kashmir, however, paint a picture of people seething for an opportunity to vent their rage.
With Reuters and PTI reports
