SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Amid anxiety that anti-government protests could erupt in the Valley after Friday prayers, authorities extended curfew to new areas as home minister P Chidambaram sternly warned no violation would be tolerated.
A day after the military was asked to keep protesters at bay, something the paramilitary and state police failed to do, dozens of Army vehicles with fluttering red flags atop patrolled empty streets ringed with barbed wire, to impose curfew in Srinagar for the third day on Thursday.
"It is important that curfew is enforced and observed by everybody," Chidambaram said. He said the Army had been brought in as a deterrent. "Army has been kept ready in case it becomes necessary to deploy them. Curfew is in place for a couple of days. I'm sure the Jammu and Kashmir government will be able to relax curfew in a few days". He also stressed that families had a responsibility. "Parents should ensure that their children remain indoors. It's the responsibility of parents," he added.
The Army was called in for the first time in two decades, after the situation seemed to be spinning out of control after the death of protesters in firing by security forces.
On Thursday, authorities extended curfew to Baramulla, Sopore and Ganderbal towns, rocked by protests over the killing of 15 people, including a nine-year-old boy, in almost a month.
Sources said intelligence inputs indicated that the protests were not merely spontaneous outbursts. These were planned, with Pakistan-based elements funding the trouble makers by organizing transfer of small amounts of money on a daily basis by Western Union through bank accounts which were opened in the Gulf especially for this purpose.
The involvement of hardline separatists in engineering some of the violence was further indicated by an intercept between two of them during which they discussed killing of at least 15 people in a procession near Srinagar on Wednesday.
Two office-bearers of the hardline Hurriyat faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani were discussing how to utilize the procession to create casualties, according to a transcript of the conversation available with the home ministry.
According to the transcript, Ghulam Ahmed Dar was heard telling Shabir Ahmed Wani that a procession of nearly 20,000 people had started from Magam and was going towards Budgam. Wani tells Dar, "You guys enjoy payments sitting at home and do nothing".
Dar, in his response, says, "The management of crowd becomes difficult later...it gets difficult to manage the mob later." He then ends by saying, "at least 15 people should be martyred today." However, police dispersed the procession with a mild cane charge.
Sources also pointed out that whenever there was a peace initiative between India and Pakistan, the level of violence went up in J&K due to the elements who were against the talks.
On Thursday, hundreds of people tried to take out a procession at Khurhum in Ganderbal, but the cops moved in quickly to quell it. "Five protesters and a cop were injured in the clash that followed," said SP Imtiyaz Hussian. Earlier on Wednesday night, thousands of people gathered in mosques across Srinagar to protest curbs.
Residents, who complained of depleting food stocks, said people were warned against stepping out of their houses and that soldiers forced shopkeepers to down shutters. Several shops had opened early in the day to enable residents to buy provisions. "We're in a prison for the last several days. We don't have enough food at home to feed our families," a resident told a news agency. Police said curfew was briefly relaxed in some villages in north and south Kashmir to allow people to buy provisions.
Hundreds of doctors and paramedics held a protest inside their compound to denounce the restrictions and killing of innocent civilians at Srinagar's S K Institute of Medical Sciences.
Journalists protested restrictions as none of Srinagar's 60 newspapers were able to hit stands after authorities cancelled curfew passes of the scribes. Many reporters spent the night in their offices.
Chidambaram said that he hoped the Army wouldn't be required for too long and that the major share of patrolling and law enforcement was being done by the state police, CRPF and Army was on standby in case there was need for its deployment.
"Army was deployed at the request of the J&K government. I'm not at liberty to disclose where it has been deployed. But I can assure that most of the places affected are still being patrolled and curfew enforced by J&K Police and paramilitary forces," he said.
