No Let Up in Kashmir, 10 Days of Curfew Without Rations and Communication

SRINAGAR: Kashmir remains under curfew on the tenth day after the killing of Burhan Wani with a legislator from Pulwama, the home district of the Hizb commander, facing wrath of public last night in his home constituency.

Senior police officials said restrictions remain in force in the ten districts of the state which have witnessed protests against the killing of the Hizb commander even as the local newspapers failed to hit the stands on the third consecutive day.

The PDP-BJP government has imposed a complete communication embargo in the Valley to defuse the situation, reminding people of the situation in 2010 unrest when over 120 protesters were killed.

Cellular phone networks, except BSNL, have also been suspended while as the educational institutions, banks and government offices remained closed in the wake of the civilian unrest.

In Rajya Sabha, senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad targeted the BJP government today for mishandling the situation, "Situation has become worse than it was in 2008 or 2010. Using excessive force or using bullets, will get you nowhere," said Azad."

The Congress party also slammed the government's attitude in Kashmir and said that healing touch is what Kashmir needs, not bullets.

Separatists leaders, including veteran Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani, moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief, Yasin Malik, who called for shutdown in the Valley till today, have been kept under house arrest or detained at their homes to prevent them from addressing public rallies.

Last night, the car of MLA Pulwama, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, was attacked by agitated protesters when he was on way to Srinagar. According to reports, the legislator suffered injuries in the incident but his condition is reported to be stable.

The civilian death toll in the ongoing unrest has climbed to 42 with hundreds of civilian protesters, many of them young girls, battling fatal injuries at SMHS hospital and SKIMS in the summer capital Srinagar.

In a report before the J&K High Court last week, the state government admitted that more than 1500 persons, including security personnel, have suffered injuries in the ongoing unrest.

Over a hundred have suffered pellet injuries in their eyes with a majority of them, according to doctors, unlikely to regain their vision. Anti-India and pro-freedom protests have broken out in Chenab region and Kashmir Valley against the civilian killings by security forces.

(Cover Photo: BASIT ZARGAR)