300 hurt in Kashmir as all-party team arrives

At least 300 people were injured, most of them with pellets, in clashes between protesters and security forces in Kashmir on Sunday, the day the all-party delegation arrived in the violence-hit Valley on a mission to restore peace.

Reports said at least 150 people were injured in clashes after security forces personnel used tear smoke shells and pellets to foil a protest rally in Shopian district of south Kashmir. Twenty two seriously injured have been referred to Srinagar from District Hospital Shopian for specialised treatment. “Almost all the people shifted to Srinagar sustained eye injuries due to pellet,” a health official said.

Witnesses said following the clashes, announcements were made from the public address systems of the masjids in several villages, urging people to come out on roads. In the ensuing clashes, angry protesters set ablaze the newly-inaugurated building of the deputy commissioner’s office in Shopian. In a similar incident more than 40 people, including some women, were injured in Ashmuji village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Villagers said that forces ran amok and thrashed whosoever came their way. Reports said another 45 people were injured after forces intercepted people near Fatehpora-Kabamarg in Anantnag district, who were proceeding towards the adjacent Sadoora village to attend a protest rally.

A doctor at district hospital Anantng said that the hospital received around 33 pellet injuries and also few of those who were beaten up. At least 20 people were also injured in Drubgam village of Pulwama district as forces thwarted another protest rally.

Pertinently, protest and freedom rallies of various sects — Deobandis, Barelvis, Jamiat-I-Ahlihadith and Jamat-I-Islami — under the banner of Itihad-I-Milat have become a norm in south Kashmir villages during the ongoing unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 8. In Tral area of south Kashmir, more than 50 protesters were injured during the day-long clashes, reports said. The protesters also attacked the house of the ruling PDP legislator Mushtaq Shah with stones. In Srinagar, two photojournalists were hit by pellets, while covering a protest rally in Rainawari area of the old city. The injured photojournalists were identified as Zuhaib Maqbool and Muzamil Mattoo, working with a local English daily.