Army to play proactive role in thwarting Geelani’s ‘Quit Kashmir’ protests

SRINAGAR - The Omar Abdullah-led Government in Jammu and Kashmir has reportedly decided to use the Army proactively to prevent separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani from going ahead with his plan of organizing mass demonstrations and shutdowns across the Kashmir valley on September 21.

Geelani’s ‘Quit Jammu and Kashmir Movement’ move has shaken the state administration sufficiently for it to maintain curfew without any relaxation till September 25.

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking the state government to restore law and order at the earliest, General Officer Commanding Srinagar-based 15 Corps and Security Advisor to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Lt Gen N C Marwah, called a meeting of senior military, paramilitary and police officials on Wednesday evening, to review the latest security situation in Kashmir valley.

Sources said senior officials from the Army, CRPF, BSF, including GOCs of the Kilo Force and the Victor Force, besides Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda, several IGPs and ADG Law and Order, K Rajindra Kumar, participated in the meeting.

“The meeting discussed the measures to effectively counter the protest calendar issued by the Hurriyat and formulated a detailed joint strategy to restore normalcy in Kashmir. The strategy will be implemented with immediate effect”, said a press release from Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing) late last night.

It did not elaborate on the decisions taken in the meeting.

The Army is expected to play a “proactive role” in the enforcement of curfew from September 18 to 25, providing all possible assistance to the state police, so as to ensure that there was no concentration of civilians around the security forces’.

Sources also said that telephones of over a thousand ‘potential threats’ have been put on surveillance and a large number of “miscreants” are being rounded up ahead of the proposed protest.

It has been reported that a manhunt has been launched to arrest the most wanted Muslim League chief, Massarat Alam, Hurriyat (Geelani) activist, Imtiyaz Hyder, and several others.

The authorities are also planning a major crackdown on Internet users who have been uploading “objectionable videos” and posts on social networking sites, particularly FaceBook and YouTube.

A notification issued recently warned that defaulters booked under Information Technology Act and ordinary Ranbir Penal Code would be liable for imprisonment upto three years. (ANI)