KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Following the call of caged All Parties Hurriyat Conference (g) chairperson, Syed Ali Geelani, for protests against the Village Defence Committee (VDC) terror in Chenab Valley, people at different places shortly after Friday prayers organized protest marches though at certain places youth clashed with government forces prompting them to use tear-smoke shells.
Violent clashes erupted in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Friday where majority of the shops remained shut to mourn the death of two militants who were killed in a gun fight in Gusso village of the district on Wednesday night.
Eyewitnesses told CNS that group of youth attacked police vehicles and armed men with stones while police resorted to tear gas shelling to disperse them. Locals alleged that police used pellet guns and pepper gas that resulted in the injuries of many protesters.
Meanwhile, Kakapora and its adjacent villages observed a complete shutdown against the killing of two LeT militants. A protest march was also organized in Awantipora town of the district.
Reports said that violent clashes erupted in Old Srinagar city shortly after Friday prayers. The masked youth while waving green and black flags targeted policemen with stones while police used tear-smoke shells to disperse them. They even held prayers in absentia for slain militants.
A peaceful protest demonstration was also held in Hyderpora shortly after the culmination of Friday congregational prayers. The protest march was led by senior Hurriyat leader Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai. Sehrai castigated authorities for their “support” to “VDC terrorists”. “It is because of the state support to these terrorists that such innocent killings take place,” Sehrai said.
Hitting hard at PDP led coalition government, Sehrai said, “we shall not sit silent over the terrorist activities of VDC goons till they are disbanded.”
Asking people to remain steadfast in their “fight for freedom”, Sehrai asked Hurriyat leadership to “introspect”. “Leaders need to see inwards as what and where went wrong. We have a legacy of seven lakh martyrs,” he said.
