In chaotic scenes in Srinagar an hour before midnight Wednesday, people, responding to calls made over loudspeakers of mosques, poured into the streets in protest after security forces allegedly barged into some houses in downtown localities and assaulted people.There was confusion all around with hundreds packing the streets and chanting slogans. There were unconfirmed reports that CRPF personnel had entered homes in Rozabal, Safakdal, Kamangarpora and Zaina Kadal — the security forces are already under fire for the manner in which protestors have been dealt with in the last three days.As the authorities tried to persuade people to return to their homes, Governor N N Vohra told The Indian Express: “We have sought the immediate replacement of the Inspector General of CRPF. We are trying our level best to calm people. It is in nobody’s interest”.The police, however, said that apart from one incident in the evening they did not have reports of security forces breaking into homes. “We know of one such incident. The other incidents are not true,” said Srinagar SSP Syed Ahfad-ul-Mujtaba.Security forces were trying to avoid moving into the city to break up the protests. “We do not want to create a scene. We will let them stay out,” a senior police officer told The Indian Express.Meanwhile, the spat between India and Pakistan over the J&K situation got uglier today after New Delhi issued its third statement in a week, describing Islamabad’s call for international involvement in Kashmir as “gratuitous and illegal”. The Ministry of External Affairs said the remarks by Pakistan’s leaders and Foreign office spokesmen were “objectionable” and “factually wrong”.But late tonight, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, in his address on the eve of the country’s independence day, again referred to the situation in Kashmir, saying Pakistan shared the grief of the families of those killed in the Valley. Earlier today, in a language reminiscent of the bitter past, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Sadiq called upon the international community, in particular “United Nations, Organisation of the Islamic Conference and Human Rights organisations, to take notice of the gross violation of human rights of Kashmiri people, unwarranted violence against them and their economic blockade perpetrated by extremist elements and impress upon India to observe restrain and rein in the extremist elements that are seeking economic destruction of the Kashmiri people.”In New Delhi, Navtej Sarna, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, hit back, saying “the Government of India finds deeply objectionable the series of remarks by the official spokesman and leaders in Pakistan on recent events in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.” “We are witnessing a recurrence of Pakistani rhetoric and allegations that are factually wrong and that bear no relationship to reality. To call for international involvement in the sovereign internal affairs of India is gratuitous, illegal and only reflects reversion to a mindset that has led to no good consequences for Pakistan in the past.” “It is not too late for Pakistani leaders and spokesmen to desist from the course of action that they have recently embarked upon, and we would urge them to do so forthwith,” Sarna said.
