Srinagar: Protesters clashed with police in Srinagar today after they were stopped from heading to Tral in south Kashmir for a planned march. The clashes came hours after the arrest of separatist Masarat Alam, who was controversially released from prison last month. Two days ago, his supporters had waved Pakistani flags at a rally and the police allege that video recordings show Mr Alam encouraging them.
As he was led away by the police from his house, Masarat Alam said, “Arrest is nothing new for us… this is not happening for the first time. This detention will not deter us,” adding that Pakistani flags and slogans have been raised in the Kashmir Valley before.
On Thursday evening, Mr Alam and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, both hardline Hurriyat Conference leaders, were put under house arrest. Mr Geelani had called for the march today to Tral in south Kashmir, which has seen tension and protests over the death of a young man allegedly during an encounter between the Army and terrorists on Monday.
The police had declared Tral a no-go zone and said the public would not be allowed to go there. Masarat Alam exhorted supporters to go ahead with their plans. “The purpose of this is to make the ‘Tral Chalo’ program unsuccessful… People will definitely go there, you’ll see,” he said.
It was to welcome Mr Geelani to the Valley after three months in Delhi that Masarat Alam had called the rally on Wednesday where Pakistani flags were waved and pro-Pakistan slogans were raised.
Amid nationwide outrage, a first information report was filed against Mr Alam and Mr Geelani. Union Home Minister Rajnath called up Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed yesterday and sternly demanded “immediate stringent action”. “There will be no compromise on matters related to national security,” Jitendra Kumar, Union Minister of State for Home said.
Chief Minister Sayeed, whose Peoples Democratic Party or PDP favours dialogue with separatists, was forced to take a tough stand. “Democracy is a battle of ideas, they are free to have their own way, speak their mind. But something which is not acceptable, is not, will not be tolerated,” he said about Pakistani flags being raised.
The Mufti is under political pressure from partner BJP whose Ram Madhav said yesterday, “We are not part of the government to give space to those shouting pro-Pakistan slogans there.” The BJP also held a rally against the state government in Jammu, the part of the state that it dominates
Mr Madhav’s comment was in response to a section of the PDP arguing that separatists need to be given political space. “Separatism and Pakistan constituency in Kashmir is a reality and we have to deal with it. We can’t deny democratic space to these people,” Wahid Rehman Parra, PDP’s youth president had said.
Masarat Alam, 45, is accused of organising stone-throwing protests in the Valley in 2010, in which more than 100 people were killed. His release, days after the Sayeed government was sworn in, had created massive controversy and became a flashpoint in the new PDP-BJP alliance.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in Parliament, “I also lend my voice to the outrage on the release of the separatist… this is not one party’s outrage, it is the nation’s outrage.” The flag-waving is only the latest in a series of events that have rocked the already tenuous relationship between the PDP and BJP which have struggled to bridge an ideological divide.
