Violence continued to rock the Kashmir valley on Tuesday 3rd August, 2010. Five more civilians killed and several injured in firing by the police. Thousands of people defied curfew and took to the streets, challenging the security forces. The Army was deployed to protect the Srinagar-Jammu High way, which was blocked by protesters in the fast few days.
Ever since July, when a teargas shell ended the life of a Srinagar teenager who had committed no crime other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Jammu and Kashmir has inched closer to the abyss each day. The state police personnel have been beaten on the streets; their weapon snatched; their homes torched most tragic of all.
Ever-growing numbers of young people have been shot in the course of increasingly desperate attempts to restore order. On Monday 2nd August, 2010, chief minister Omar Abuldalla called for additional central forces to restore order.
As tensions escalate in Srinagar between angry mobs led by stone pelting teenagers and the security forces, there is a real fear that the situation in Kashmir is fast spinning out of control.
Stone pelting has become a routine feature of street protests in Srinagar since the summer of 2008. The situation in Kashmir is alarming. There are two new aspects to the unabated violence the like of which the armed forces or the police have not faced so far. Women are also joining the mob in the destruction of government property. They do not fear the bullets. They do not fear the bullets. The unrest is not confined to any one area. This makes the task of containing violence very difficult.
Union Home Minister Mr P. Chidambaram urged the Kashmiri people on Wednesday 4th August, 2010 that, Mindless violence and destruction of public property will not lead to any solution. Making identical statements in both houses of parliament, the government deeply regretted the loss of lives in Jammu and Kashmir” Many of them were young men and children. The minister conveys his deepest sympathies to the families of the deceased’ He assured Parliament that adequate forces were available to the state government. He said the central government offered its full support to the state in restoring law and order, holding a dialogue. The Minister appealed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to put an end to the current cycle of violence.
The problem of violence and unrest among the people of Kashmir is due to lack of development and rampant corruption and development funds never reaching the targeted people. Kashmir is an irrevocably integral part of India.
Prof. John Kurakar
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