Stones not bullets worry forces in Kashmir

SRINAGAR - For the first time since the early 1990s when the violent separatist campaign began in Kashmir, authorities are not bothered about militant strikes but rather the new idiom of protests exemplified by the stone pelters.

A Valley-wide curfew Saturday in the wake of riotous protests a day ago in which four people were killed and 47 others injured marked Independence Day eve.

An eerie silence and a highly volatile law and order situation has shifted the focus of senior intelligence officers and the local law and order machinery to crowd control and prevention of mass violence.

“While the routine security arrangements are in place in Srinagar as per the standard procedure we have been following during the last so many years now, this time our main focus is to ensure that separatists are prevented from inciting people to violence around Aug 15,” a senior police officer told IANS, not wishing to be identified.

Coils of razor-fitted concertina wire used to block traffic crossings and entry points at sensitive installations in Srinagar city to thwart guerrilla strikes around Aug 15 in the past are today being used to prevent riotous mobs from attacking the security force camps and police stations.

Tensions have traditionally run high in the Valley since early 1990s around Aug 15, which separatists have been observing as a ‘black day’ calling shutdowns and asking people to put out lights in their homes in the evenings to register their protest against Indian rule.

“This year the situation is entirely different from the past. Nobody speaks of militant plans to attack the venues of Independence Day parades across the Valley. Nobody highlights ‘militant intercepts’ suggesting that a major or minor strike was being planned by them on Aug 15.

“It is an entirely different ball game for the security forces this year. They have to ensure that people confine themselves to their homes as curfew is imposed to prevent further violence in the Valley.

“The focus is now on civilian protests rather than militant strikes,” said Bashir Manzar, editor of a daily English newspaper.

“The idiom of separatist campaign has completely changed during the last two months. The separatists call all the shots here and the administration simply responds to their programmes,” Manzar said.

The main Independence Day parade is being held at the Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar city which has already been taken over by security forces two days ahead of the parade to sanitize the stadium and areas around it.

“In the past we had tensions of a different kind. One feared that militants would attack the security forces and a civilian could be injured or killed in the cross fire.

“Today the fear is different. If a child has left his home, he could be pelting stones at the security forces, risking his life or become the victim of a tear smoke shell fired at a crowd where the child might have been a spectator,” said Muzaffar Ahmad, 51, a college teacher here.

In a nutshell, tensions run high in the Valley around Aug 15, but the priorities of the security forces and the worries of the civilians are no longer focused on the guerrilla attacks - the stone pelters have become a formidable force now.

(F. Ahmed can be contacted at f.ahmed@ians.in)