Students clashed with police and paramilitary forces in south Kashmir’s Anantnag, north Kashmir’s Baramulla and Kupwara district and central Kashmir’s Budgam district Thursday.
Students of Government Higher Secondary School Magam clashed with the forces when they allegedly tried to enter the Government Degree College Magam and Government Higher Secondary School Magam premises.
As protesting students pelted stones at the forces, they fired dozens of tear smoke canisters and charged students with batons to disperse them.
Six students were detained during the clashes, locals said.
In north Kashmir’s Sopore town, 13 students of Government Boy’s Higher Secondary School, Sopore and Government Degree College, Sopore were injured in the action by forces deployed outside the main gate of both the institutions.
“We received 13 injured students’ including 9 girls,” Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Sopore, Muhammad Sami told Kashmir Post.
The authorities later locked up students inside the college premises to avoid any eventuality but the students climbed up over the balcony of the Government Boy’s Higher Secondary School and pelted stones at the forces who retaliated with teargas shells and pepper gas.
Clashes also erupted between the students of Government Higher Secondary School Langate and forces in Langate area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
In south Kashmir’s Dooru village of Anantnag district clashes erupted between students and forces after they allegedly thrashed some of their batch mates.
As the news of clashes spread in the area, shopkeepers pulled down their shutters and traffic went off the roads.
Additional police force was rushed to spots that witnessed protests.
The students were protesting against the alleged highhandedness of forces against students of Degree College Pulwama on April 15 and the subsequent protests thereafter across Kashmir.
They also demanded release of students arrested by police during these protests over the past month.
A police raid on government degree college Pulwama had triggered widespread protests by students across Kashmir on April 17 and these have been going on intermittently since then, prompting authorities to suspend classes in the higher educational institutions for over a week last month.
A number of students were also arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.
Meanwhile, the government has ordered suspension of class work in SP Higher Secondary School, Government Degree College Magam, and Government Higher Secondary School Magam on May 12, 2017(Friday) as a precautionary measure.
The order to this effect was issued by Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Lone and Deputy Commissioner Budgam, Mir Altaf Ahmad.
Student Protests continues across Kashmir, scores injured
