The entire Kashmir Valley was placed under indefinite curfew at dawn on Saturday, ahead of Afzal Guru’s execution at Delhi’s Tihar, with people waking up to see thousands of police and CRPF jawans in full battle gear deployed on the streets.
At least 36 people, including 23 policemen, were injured in day-long clashes across the Valley, with the police opening fire to quell curfew-defying mobs in Sopore, Guru’s hometown, and in neighbouring Baramulla, hours after he was hanged.
Mob violence was also reported from elsewhere in the Valley. Officials said the forces exercised maximum restraint while dispersing stone-pelting crowds.
Armoured cars and “bunker vehicles” were deployed in certain areas of Srinagar and other towns, and police jeeps made announcements about the curfew. Official sources said the Army was put on alert, but not deployed.
In Sopore, huge crowds took to the streets and began to march to Guru’s house in the suburb of Jagir. Police and CRPF men quickly prevented the marchers from moving forward.
Many Kashmiris took to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to express anger over the hanging, targeting not just the Indian state and the government in New Delhi, but also Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who was held equally responsible for the “murder of justice and fair play”, with many claiming Guru was denied a fair trial.
Internet services were soon curtailed in various parts of the Kashmir Valley, and then completely snapped at some places. Several key political players and civil society figures also joined in the online tirade against the hanging, including lawyers, doctors, retired bureaucrats, poets and journalists.
n More on Page 3