Stray incidents of violence reported in Sopore and Srinagar
Barring stray incidents of violence and protests, the overall situation across the Kashmir valley remained peaceful today as near normalcy prevailed for the second consecutive day today ahead of the 15-hour relaxation from this afternoon.
The incidents of violence were reported from Sopore and Srinagar, amid near normal movement of vehicles in different parts of the Valley.
Some unidentified masked youth in an attempt to disrupt traffic on the Sopore-Kupwara road indulged in stone-throwing near Sopore this afternoon. Many passenger and private vehicles were damaged with smashed windshields and side glasses. The incident took place before the “relaxation” period in the general strike beginning at 4 pm.
In another incident, protests were held against the arrest of some youth in the Kralpora area on the outskirts of Srinagar today. The police resorted to lathicharge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the demonstrators protesting against the arrest of the youth allegedly on the charge of stone-throwing.
Traffic on the Srinagar-Charar-e-Sharief road in Budgam district was disrupted for some time due to the trouble.
After two days of full relaxation in shutdown last weekend, for the first time during the nearly five-month-long unrest, since the trouble started in early July, public transport has started moving in different parts of the Valley. The passenger buses and taxi cabs on various inter-district routes and major towns have been moving normally across the Valley though the number declines on shutdown days.
Normal life activities resumed across the Valley this afternoon as the 15-hour-long relaxation period began at 4 pm on the second consecutive day today.
The separatists have extended the shutdown till December 1, giving full-day relaxation on Saturday and Sunday, this being the second such relaxation during the unrest. Shops and business establishments in the capital city, other district headquarters and major towns opened this afternoon.
Kashmir is witnessing the longest period of unrest that completed 139 days today with only two days of full relaxation in the shutdown called by separatists last weekend.
At least 12 vehicles suffered damage while four passengers sustained injuries after masked youth stoned every vehicle on the Sopore-Kupwara road in north Kashmir on Thursday.
Witnesses said that amid strike, traffic was plying normally on the Sopore-Kupwara road. “At 10 am, a group of masked youth appeared near Shangergund and started throwing stones on the vehicles in which at least 12 vehicles suffered intense damage. Four passengers sustained minor injuries,” witnesses said.
They said, “Most of the stones hit the front window panes of the vehicles.” Witnesses said as the word about attack spread, the traffic came to a grinding halt on the highway for many hours.
Meanwhile, clashes erupted at south Kashmir’s Pulwama area when forces cordoned off Newa locality.
Locals said the forces laid a siege around a part of Newa and launched a search operation. “As the forces started searches, youth assembled and pelted stones on them and also raised slogans,” they added.
The forces lobbed shells to disperse the youth, who retaliated with stones triggering clashes. “The clashes spread to main town also. The pitched battles continued for some time. The Srinagar-Pulwama road was also blocked by the youth and traffic could not ply on the road,” witnesses said.
The SSP Pulwama said, “It was a normal search operation, but the youth blocked road and hurled stones. They were later chased.”
Srinagar streets and roads witnessed increased movement of public transport on Thursday. Transporters said the decision of passenger transport sector to start ferrying passengers once again after completely going off the roads has led to an increased activity across Kashmir.
Pertinently, the resistance leadership has lately stressed that more people should utilize public transport during ‘relaxation’ period in the strike.
As per figures dished out by transporters, more than 1.15 lakh passenger transport vehicles along with stakeholders (drivers, owners, conductors) have been grounded due to the unrest. Meanwhile, both intra-district and inter-district passenger transport has increased since last one week. However, bus service on several city routes is yet to begin. Mini buses plying between Batmaloo to Batwara, Pantachowk, JVC, Saida Kadal are finding a feasible number of passengers while the inter-district cabs are also running to full capacity.
