Srinagar, April 17 (IANS): Widespread protests by students in the Kashmir Valley on Monday heightened tensions as dozens of students and policemen were injured in clashes.
The students clashed with police in Srinagar, Bandipora, Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama, Kupwara, Kulgam and Shopian districts.
The students had called for protests against Saturday’s incident in Pulwama town in which over 50 students were injured in fighting with security forces after objecting to the setting up of a security post outside the college.
Security forces had entered the Pulwama college on Saturday.
Students of S.P. College in Srinagar blocked the Maulana Azad Road on Monday as police used tear smoke in a bid to clear it.
The students resorted to massive stone pelting at the police, resulting in injuries to the Station House Officer of Kothibagh police station and two of his guards.
Three students were also injured in the clashes.
Police used dozens of tear smoke shells to disperse the students who kept regrouping to engage the police on the streets.
Girls from a women’s college in Srinagar also joined the protests as police battled hard to bring the situation under control.
Markets in neighbouring Residency Road and Lal Chowk areas closed as tension spread.
Protests and clashes also erupted between students in Pulwama town despite the authorities having ordered the closure of the college there for two days following Saturday’s incident.
Students also indulged in heavy stone pelting at the security forces in Baramulla, Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag, Dooru, Kupwara, Ganderbal, Tral and Bandipora towns.
Reports said over three dozen students and two dozen security men were injured in Monday’s clashes in the Valley.
Police said they were maintaining “extreme restraint” while dealing with the student protests.
Omar questions J&K govt’s handling of students’ protests
Srinagar, April 17 (PTI): Opposition National Conference’s working president Omar Abdullah on Monday questioned the handling of students’ protests by the Jammu and Kashmir government, led by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
“I hope @MehboobaMufti has thought through the implications of mass student protests across the valley. This is a deeply worrying situation (sic),” the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister wrote on his Twitter handle.
“Why could all colleges/universities not have been closed for a few days after the Pulwama clashes? Is @MehboobaMufti not alert to situation? (sic),” he wrote in another tweet after college students across the Valley took to the streets.
The students were protesting against the alleged high- handedness of security forces while dealing with a similar protest at the Pulwama degree college on Saturday.
Omar has been a vocal critic of the Mehbooba-led government alleging that it had failed to provide leadership and direction to the people of the state.
