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Srinagar: Clashes erupted in at least five districts of the Kashmir valley immediately after the Eid prayers today. In Srinagar, youths clashed with the police and CRPF personnel outside the idgah where 15,000 to 20,000 persons had assembled for prayers. Hundreds of youths, waving black flags, tried to hold a march but were intercepted by the police. The biggest gathering was witnessed at the Hazratbal shrine. The Sonawar and Soura shrines in the heart of the city too saw the faithful turn up in large numbers. For the past several years, protests on Eid have become a routine affair with large gatherings instantly turning into protest rallies. In other parts of the state, the celebrations remained low-key and austere. Local residents said the police fired tear smoke shells to disperse the protesters, who chanted pro-militant slogans and carried posters of slain militants, including that of Islamist militant Zakir Musa. Inspector General of Police Muneer Khan said there were protests in Srinagar, Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Baramulla districts. He described these as “small incidents”, claiming that the situation was “well under control”. He said only a few civilians and a CRPF jawan had sustained minor injuries, a claim that was contested by local residents, who said several civilians had been injured in north Kashmir’s Sopore sub-district. Several separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, had been put under house arrest, by the authorities that feared their presence at large Eid gatherings could provoke violence. Mohammad Yasin Malik , JKLF chairman, was taken into preventive custody and lodged at the Central Jail, Srinagar.

Situation well under control:

IGP Inspector General of Police Muneer Khan said there were protests in Srinagar, Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Baramulla districts. He described these as “small incidents”, claiming that the situation was “well under control”. (TNS)

New Delhi: The Centre has asked the J&K Government to introduce the goods and services tax (GST) from July 1 along with the rest of the country and has cautioned that any delay will create a disadvantage for consumers and the industry of the state. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today wrote a letter to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti urging introduction of the GST in Jammu and Kashmir from July 1, along with the rest of the states. In his letter, Jaitley also brought to the notice of the Chief Minister that in case state was not able to introduce the GST from July 1, it may lead to adverse impact. He pointed out that this may be in the form of a general increase in prices in J&K of all goods being purchased from other states. In addition, there can also be an increase in the price of all goods being sold from Jammu and Kashmir to other states which shall have an affect on state’s industry. Jaitley urged the Chief Minister to take all necessary steps to introduce the GST on July 1, as any delay in it would create a disadvantage for the consumers and the industry in the intervening period. The letter said as per Article 370, amendments to the Constitution of India were applicable to Jammu and Kashmir with the concurrence of the state government, as the President may by order specify. Jaitley urged the Chief Minister to send the concurrence of the state, with any modifications as considered necessary keeping in view the special constitutional position of the state, on the Constitution (101st amendment) Act, 2016 for the order of the President. He observed that the state had participated in the GST council meetings and had meaningfully contributed to framing of its various laws and rules. He thanked the Chief Minister for having hosted the 14th meeting of the GST council in Srinagar on May 18-19 where some very crucial decisions relating to the GST, including decisions on a majority of the tax rates were taken. Detailing the disadvantages to consumers and industry, the Finance Minister pointed out that if Jammu and Kashmir did not join the GST, for all purchases made by J&K from other states after July 1, the dealer would not be able to take credit of IGST which would get embedded into the price of purchased goods or services, leading to cascading of tax and increase in price of goods or services for the final consumers in J&K. Similarly, in case of goods or services sold fromJ&Kto other states, the buyers will not be able to take credit of the local taxes paid to the dealer. This will increase the cost through embedding of such taxes in the price.

Srinagar: Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Muhammad Yasin Malik on Friday accused the government forces of “turning Kashmir into a killing field.” “Indian forces are killing Kashmiris at will,” he told a public gathering at Chrar-i-Sharief shrine in Budgam district after Friday prayers.

He said peace and stability depend on resolution of disputes and issues as “peace cannot be established in vacuum.”

“United Nations as a responsible forum has to rise above lip-service and play its role in resolving Kashmir and Palestine disputes,” he said.

A JKLF spokesperson said Malik went underground yesterday evening as police were out to arrest him and prevent him from reaching Chrar-i-Sharif.

He said police have arrested JKLF vice-chairman Showkat Ahmad Bakhshi and shifted him to police station Parimpora. 

“I had to go into hiding to reach here because the so-called rulers have almost imposed martial law in Kashmir where no political and even religious activity is being allowed,” Malik said.

He said today was the last Friday of this year’s Ramadhan and every Muslim was duty-bound to reach Jamia Masjid or other big places of worship for prayers.

“But the PDP-led regime, implementing RSS agenda, banned even Friday congregations and imposed curfew in most parts of Kashmir including Jamia Masjid Srinagar,” he said.

“This is enough evidence that the PDP-led ruling regime is anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmir. Kashmir has been turned into a killing field where young and old are being killed with impunity daily,” he said.

He accused New Delhi of using its military and police might to unleash “ugly oppression” against Kashmiri youth who are waging a peaceful political struggle.

“Youth in peaceful movement are being subjected to torture, arrests and humiliation, leaving them with no choice but to opt for the armed mode of resistance and now the same young boys are being targeted and killed with impunity,” he said.

He said during the 2016 uprising, more than a hundred youngsters were killed, over 1,000 blinded and thousands of others injured and imprisoned.

“This genocide is still continuing as the Indian might has not succeeded in breaking the will of common Kashmiris who have decided to resist the oppression with valor and passion,” Malik said. 

Stressing upon the need for early release of all Kashmiri prisoners, Malik said “civilised countries and nations don’t cage their opponents and suppress their voices and if India and its Kashmiri stooges claim to be democrats, they should open the doors of jails and let free those who have been languishing there for many years.”

He said it was a common practice for thegovernments to release prisoners before Eid.

“But PDP rulers under the influence of RSS Hindu fanaticism, instead of releasing inmates, are actually trying to arrest and house-arrest more people and fill jails and police stations which is highly condemnable,” Malik said.

Malik was given a rousing farewell by people in Chara-e-Sharif town.

“Thousands of people, especially the youth, enthusiastically gathered around Yasin sahib and took him on their shoulders and raised passionate slogans in favor of freedom and unity,” the JKLF spokesman said.

Police says he was on security duty, mob mistook him as a spy, assassin

Srinagar: he lynching of the DySP Mohammad Ayub Pandith during the nightlong prayers at the Grand Mosque has added a shocking new dimension to the deteriorating situation in Valley.  

The incident follows close on the heels of the killing of three militants and a civilian in an encounter in South Kashmir on Thursday. And it is the seventh death of a J&K Police man over the past week. 

On June 17, six police men including a sub-inspector were killed when  militants attacked a police team in Thajiwara Achabal of Anantnag district.  

Pandith was beaten to death when he was  posted on security duty at the Grand Mosque on the occasion of the Lailatul Qadr, the holiest night in Muslim calendar ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr. 

He was on “Access Control Duty” heading a team of police personnel in civvies, who frisked people entering the mosque, a routine security practice at big religious gatherings, police said.

“He came out of the mosque in the middle of the night to make a call, some people followed him and asked him questions,” police sources said. “They accused him of being an intelligence agent as he was reportedly clicking pictures and making videos of the worshippers. Pandith told them he was doing his routine duty that didn’t convince the angry mob”. 

The  crowd, the Police said, started hitting him. “They stripped him naked and pushed him down. With his life under threat, Pandith took out his pistol and fired in the air. But when mob refused to budge, he fired at the legs of some of the people. Three were hit,” the police sources said. “But far from running away, the mob stood its ground, now more violent. They brought rocks and threw them at him, some stones hit his head. He lost consciousness and soon died from excessive blood loss.  The body was lying there for an hour before it was removed”. 

However, witnesses contested the parts of the police version. According to them the alleged suspicious movement of Pandith around the mosque made people apprehend that he was an intelligence agent on a mission to cause some mischief.  Some thought he had come to assassinate Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, an inference that was only further reinforced when on being confronted Pandith whipped out his pistol and fired at the crowd, injuring three. 

“People there said he was from outside the state, had come to kill Mirwaiz and perhaps worked for the army,” the eye-witness Sajad Ahmad Sheikh was quoted as saying by the New York Times. 

Another witness Mushtaq Khan told the paper: “People were shouting ‘We have caught a C.I.D. man’. Then they paraded him naked, and he was beaten to death.”

Police has so far arrested two youths for having taken part in the lynching. Director General of Police  SP Vaid affirmed that the perpetrators of the atrocity “will face the law”.

“The official was killed by the mob while he was performing his duties. It’s a very sad and unfortunate incident,” he added.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti termed the lynching shameful. “Isse bada sharmnaak vakya koi ho nahin sakta(There is nothing more atrocious than this).”

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who delivered sermon on  Shab Qadr at the Grand Mosque, was also forthright in his condemnation. “Deeply disturbed and condemn the brutal act at Nowhatta. Mob violence and public lynching is outside the parameters of our values and religion,” tweeted Mirwaiz. “We cannot allow state brutality to snatch our humanity and values,” he said.

The Mirwaiz had come to the mosque to deliver his sermon past midnight. This is for the first time that a mob has lynched a person in Kashmir and is, therefore, a new low in the Kashmir situation, Kashmir observers said.

Though there have been killings of some people during protests earlier also, like the death of a passer-by after being hit by a stone last year and killing of a lecturers by beating by security forces in Pampore last year.

Social media Debate

The lynching generated outrage on social media too. “Act of stoning DySp Ayub Pandith in Nowhatta is barbaric & ghastly,” tweeted political commentator Gowhar Geelani.

“Mob lynching reaches Kashmir, I am ashamed,” tweeted one Mir Burhan.

People see the development as yet another instance of the fast deteriorating situation in Kashmir. And for many, the lynching underlines the brutalisation of Kashmiri society due to the constant exposure to extreme violence.

Srinagar: Condemning the lynching of a police officer in Srinagar, National Conference working president Omar Abdullah on Friday said the people behind the “travesty” should “burn in hell”.He said the killing of deputy superintendent of police Mohammad Ayub Pandith outside the Jamia Masjid in the downtown area of the city was height of barbarism.“I am personally anguished and devastated by this tragedy. That this happened on the most auspicious night and outside Jamia Masjid is shocking,” he said.“His death is a tragedy & the manner of his death a travesty. May the people who lynched DySP Pandith burn in hell for their sins,” Omar wrote on Twitter.Expressing shock and anguish over the “dastardly and barbaric” killing, Omar said the killing was the height of barbarism and should be condemned unequivocally by everyone.“I am personally anguished and devastated by this tragedy. That this happened on the most auspicious night and outside Jamia Masjid is shocking. Such heinous elements are the enemies of Kashmiriyat and humanity and should be given the sternest possible sentence as per the law of the land,” he said in a statement.The former chief minister of the state announced a donation of Rs 10 lakh on behalf of the party and also a month’s salary as MLA to the police welfare fund to support families of such martyrs.“We are all duty-bound to stand with the family of the martyred police officer and also the police department in this hour of mourning and grief,” the NC working president said.He demanded that the culprits be brought to book without delay and given the sternest possible punishment.On the instructions of the working president, NC’s provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani and state spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu attended the wreath-laying ceremony of the police officer on behalf of the party and paid tributes.Mohammad Ayub Pandith, a deputy superintendent of police, was stripped naked and stoned to death by an irate mob after he allegedly opened fire at a group of people, who caught him clicking pictures near a mosque in downtown area in the early hours of Friday. PTI

Srinagar: Even as Jumat-ul-Vida was celebrated across the Kashmir valley today, the traditional fervour associated with the last Friday of the holy month of Ramazan was missing. A comparatively lesser number of people offered Friday prayers at the revered Hazratbal shrine and the Friday gathering could not be held at Jamia Masjid in the old city due to restrictions imposed by the government. Restrictions had been put in place after a Hurriyat call for post Friday prayer protest. Largest Friday prayer gatherings on Jumat-ul-Vida used to be traditionally held at the Hazratbal shrine and Jamia Masjid. However, devotees in large numbers were seen thronging most of the other mosques and shrines for Friday prayers across the Valley. During Friday sermons, religious heads threw light on the significance of Jumat-ul-Vida while bidding farewell to the fasting month. Meanwhile, Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who would deliver the Friday sermon at the Jamia Masjid, flayed the government for imposing curbs on religious gatherings. In a statement, he said, “It is for the first time in the living memory of people that they are being barred from offering Jumat-ul-Vida prayers at Jamia Masjid by the authorities.” “For the whole year Muslims of the Valley wait for offering prayers at Jamia Masjid on this most important last Friday of the holiest month of Ramazan to earn reward and seek forgiveness of their Almighty. And even that right has been snatched from us by our oppressors,” he added. (TNS)

Srinagar: Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammed Ayub Pandith, 57, had left his Nowpora home at 8.30 pm for his night duty at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid, located three kilometres from his home. During the night, when the pictures of an unidentified man, who was lynched outside the mosque, spread on the social media and WhatsApp, the family could not recognise him. “Many in our family had seen the picture, but none could identify him,” said his cousin Mohammad Abdullah Pandit. “At 5.20 am, we were told to identify the body and everyone was in shock.” Abdullah claimed that it was for the first time after joining the police, Pandith was deployed at Jamia Masjid. The family also received a call from the police at around 3 am inquiring whether Pandith had returned home or not. As the body reached home, the family members wailed and neighbours also assembled to offer condolences. Emotional scenes were seen at his home. He was laid to rest at his native place in Nowpora. The officer is survived by wife, son Danish, who is a businessman, and daughter Sana, who is doing MBBS in Bangladesh. “Sana had arrived a few days ago to celebrate Eid and she was to leave on Tuesday,” another family member said. Pandith’s colleagues remembered him as one of the finest officers. “He was known to be one of the most decent and dedicated officer,” ADGP (Security) Dilbagh Singh said. Pandith had joined the police in 1990 as a Sub-Inspector. After completing his basic training in 1992, he was posted at Pulwama. He was promoted to the Deputy Superintendent of Police’s post in 2013 and was posted with the security wing.

Tribune News Service