Land transfer: No let-up in protests

In Srinagar, protests, which remained peaceful, were taken out from almost every neighbourhood in Srinagar and converged in Lal Chowk before moving downtown. Women and children set up stalls all along the procession routes to provide water and food to the demonstrators.

“This land transfer is a big conspiracy against Kashmir. The Government is using the transfer of 800 kanals as a test case. They will start selling our forests and land wholesale next,” said Abdul Rasheed Wani, an engineering student, who was part of the procession at Lal Chowk. “We are not against the yatra —we are against the Government and its policies,” he added. At the historic Clock Tower at Lal Chowk, the demonstrators raised three green flags in the presence of CRPF personnel, which police sources say are the flags of Awami Action Committee led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. However, “No Pakistani flags were raised,” said inspector general of police (IGP) Kashmir, S M Sahai.

However, even though the protest proceeded relatively peacefully in Srinagar, matters got out of hand in the south Kashmir town of Pulwama where angry protesters tried to storm a police station. The authorities responded by heavy tear gas shelling and baton charging, eventually bringing the situation under control by declaring a curfew in the town. In Sopore too, police clashed with protesters throughout the day. Dozens of policemen and protesters were injured.

Although J-K’s grand cleric Mufti Bashir-ud-din marched with the people for several hours in Srinagar, mainstream political parties such as the NC and PDP stayed away from the demonstrations. Sources reveal that the opposition NC is weighing the prospects of joining the street protests. “The struggle against the land transfer will continue till the order is revoked,” Mian Abdul Qayoom, who heads the Action Committee against Land transfer, told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the five-day shutdown has led to a massive exodus of tourists from Kashmir, with sources claiming that almost 70 per cent of reservations have been cancelled during this time.