Muhammad Raafi
KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Shortly after Friday prayers, protests rocked various parts of the valley against the high court order directing police to ensure ban on the sale of beef in state.
In old city’s restive Nowhatta, masked youth turned up in the main square and tried to take out a march against the ban. However, heavy deployment of police derailed it, triggering heavy stone pelting in the area. Police resorted to tear smoke shelling to disperse the protesters.
Notably, a Jammu and Kashmir High Court order, directing the state police to take “strict action” against beef sellers created a public outcry in the state with separatist camp calling for protest after Friday prayers and shutdown on Saturday against what they term as “interference in our religious matters”.
Kashmir University too erupted in anti-ban protest with students and scholars vowing to fight the court order “tooth and nail”.
Similar reports of dissent poured in from South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, where a senior separatist leader was supposed to slaughter a cow in the main chowk. As police foiled the program, the area simmered in protests resulting in “pellet injuries” to six persons. They were rushed to Srinagar’s SMHS hospital.
Besides anti-establishment protests, reports of cow slaughter have reached Kashmir Life from various parts of valley, including Reshi Chowk Islamabad, Tral, Khudwani Kulgam and other areas.
