Act of defiance: Protesters out with Pak flags in response to the Army chief’s warning. Days after the Army chief General Bipin Rawat warned of action against Kashmiri youth displaying Pakistani flags or supporting militants, clashes erupted at several places after Friday prayers between security forces and agitating mobs in the Kashmir Valley.
A large number of youths gathered in Srinagar’s Nowhatta, and waved the Islamic State and Pakistani flags after which the security forces intervened to disperse them.
Clashes followed as the youths protested, chanted pro-freedom slogans and pelted stones at the security forces which used tear gas and charged them with batons.
In north Kashmir’s Sopore town, protesters, shouting anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans, also indulged in stone throwing.
General Rawat had on Wednesday warned the locals against supporting militants and those displaying Pakistani flags.
“We (Army) will request locals in Kashmir that people who have picked up arms — and these are local boys — and if they want to continue with acts of terrorism by displaying flags of the Islamic State and Pakistan, we will treat them as anti-national elements and go after them.”
The statement received criticism from the opposition parties and the separatist groups as well.
The National Conference termed the Army Chief’s statement as an “alarming sign of the sense of alienation and disenchantment in Kashmir”.
“The need of the hour is to understand and acknowledge the deep sense of isolation in Kashmir and deal with it with statesmanship and magnanimity,” the party said in a statement on Thursday.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad attacked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and alleged that the statement made by the Army Chief was motivated by political interests.
“Bipin Rawat’s threatening statement is unjustified and it can be the Centre’s policy, not the Army’s,” Azad told the media.
Kashmir’s separatist camp also spoke on the same lines and said the statement was “threatening and scary”.
“India won’t hesitate to kill each soul for this purpose,” Huriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani said. Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, another senior Huriyat leader, said that it “reflects a tyrannical mindset towards the people of Kashmir”.
Despite no call for shutdown or protests by the separatist group on Friday, clashes between youth and security occurred at many places post the Friday prayers.
Meanwhile, theMinister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh urged the Congress and other opposition parties to refrain from criticising Army chief General Bipin Rawat for warning Kashmiri protesters.
“I think regardless of our political affiliations, it is to be understood that politicking in the name of security forces is ultimately going to affect each one of us,” Singh told media at the BJP headquarters here.
He said that calling the Army chief “hot headed” was akin to indulging in “lowly politics”, which he said a number of opposition leaders were doing.
He said that such statements from the Congress were “unbecoming of a national party”.
“We earnestly appeal to all political sections and the Congress party to not indulge in any kind of politics at the cost of the morale of security forces,” Singh said.
Justifying Rawat’s remarks, the minister said: “The Army chief’s statement, to be fair, was actually inspired by the concern for the youths of Kashmir. During anti-terror operations, the Army is always concerned about collateral damage and tries to avoid it.”
“But some Congress leaders are interpreting it as if the Army is after the Kashmiri youth, which is not the case,” he added.
Jitendra Singh said that Kashmir-centric parties such as the National Conference were saying “unsavoury things” about the Army.
“When they (National Conference) are in power, they swear by India and Kashmir as an integral part of India. The moment they are shunted out of power, they overnight become wiser and question the role of the Army in the state,” the minister said. (IANS)