Young girls are the new face of resistance
Barely into their teens, they have taken to the streets shouting azadi slogans and clashing with forces
were closed after students across the Valley took to streets on April 17 to protest police action, two days earlier, on fellow students of Pulwama Degree College in south Kashmir.
The girls shouted azadi slogans while the boys from the nearby Shri Pratap College and School targeted government forces with stones and projectiles. Within no time many girls, some in dresses with floral prints, also joined the boys. The two groups mingled and chased the armoured vehicles of police and CRPF. The government forces retaliated with tear gas shelling.
“Nothing will happen if we remain silent. The brutalities of Indian forces are continuing and the narrative of ‘paid stone-pelter’ by Indian media continues. Now what will they say when a student in uniform throws stones,” said a student of Women’s College. “The anger was (always) there but the Pulwama incident fired that even more. We have understood the power is in youth. It is now our turn. The Kashmir issue needs to be resolved. Majority of us want independence,” she said
Following an alleged attack on a nomadic family for smuggling bovines and the subsequent arrest and release of 11 accused on bail, Reasi district on Tuesday observed a complete shutdown in protest against “biased” police action.
On the call given by Akhil Bharati Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, transporters and trading organisations, Reasi observed a shutdown, said a local.
Demanding a fair probe and revocation of the FIR against the 11 accused, protesters also burnt tyres on all connecting roads in the city and shouted slogans against police and civil administration, he added.
Adequate deployment of police and CRPF has been made in and around the town, and the army, which has a considerable presence, has been kept on standby. Raghav Kesar, state general secretary of ABVP, said, “We demand impartial investigations, which are possible only after the suspension of SSP Reasi (Tahir Sajjad Bhat) and deputy SP (Mujeeb-ur-rehman). Police have implicated innocent persons in the FIR,” he alleged.
Kesar said that during a meeting of a delegation with Reasi deputy commissioner Ravinder Kumar on Tuesday, the latter agreed to a blanket ban on transportation of bovines in vehicles at night.