Paradise lost: 100 days, 102 lives

A funeral a day and counting, Kashmir continues to be on the edge. For the records, the 100 days of the azadi groundswell has broken all previous records, making it the worst agitation of recent times and surpassing the Amarnath land row of 2008.

The unrest started on June 11 when a teenager, Tufail Ahmad Mattoo, was killed in tear-gas shelling by the police in the old city of Srinagar. A bloodbath followed and with every death, Omar Abdullah’s credibility has nosedived.

Saturday marked the 100th day of the unrest, and Kashmir witnessed four more deaths, taking the death toll to 102. The victims include an eight-year-old and 65-year-old.

Khurram Parvez, a prominent human rights activist and programme coordinator, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, complained that the mindset of the Indian state is militarized. “The prime minister says the government will talk to those who abjure violence, but what about their violence? Every peaceful method of protest is met with violence by the Indian state,” he said.

The first time stones were against security forces was in 2008, when demonstrators protested against the then Ghulam Nabi Azad government’s decision to transfer 39.88 hectares of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board to make arrangements for pilgrims. Many youngsters, who had little memory of the militancy days, took part in the protests.

“The previous agitations were led by leaders while the current agitation is driven by young people, which makes it unique,” said Fida Hasnain, a well known historian of Kashmir.

For the security forces, it is the call of duty to maintain law and order. “Around 1,500 of our men and officers have been injured in stone-pelting during the last three months,” said Prabhakar Tripathi, the CRPF spokesman, “Two hundred have suffered critical wounds, some have lost their eyesight and some their limbs.”

But the security forces believe the death toll will come down in the days ahead as they begin using alternative equipment to control the crowds. “We have pump-action guns and other non-lethal method for mob dispersal. We have been observing maximum retrain to tackle the mobs,” said Tripathi.