Graffiti artist among 20 held over anti-Israel stir in J&K

The Jammu and Kashmir police have detained at least 20 people including a graffiti artist following protests in Srinagar and some other parts of the predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley against Israel in the backdrop of its airstrikes and surface offensive in Gaza Strip.

As many people have over the past few days used social media platforms to vent their anger against Israel and show solidarity with the Palestinians, the J&K police on Saturday warned “irresponsible social media comments that may result in actual violence on streets over the happenings in Palestine would invite action under law”.

Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range), Vijay Kumar, said, “J&K Police are keeping a very close watch on elements who are attempting to leverage the unfortunate situation in Palestine to disturb public peace and order in the Kashmir Valley.” He added, “All irresponsible social media comments that result in actual violence and breaking of law including Covid protocol will attract legal action.”

Mudasir Gul, the 32-yearold artist, who is among the detainees had on Friday climbed onto a steel platform close to an overhead water tank in Srinagar’s Padshahi Bagh area to paint the face of a sobbing woman wearing Palestine’s flag as the headscarf. He also wrote on the graffiti ‘We are

Palestine’ amid chanting of anti-Israel slogans by an impromptu crowd. Some Angry youth put several Palestine flags atop the platform crisscrossing a passageway, the witnesses said.

Local sources said that it was a group of youth of Padshahi Bagh who “feeling disturbed and highly passionate over the mayhem caused by the Israeli forces in Gaza Strip” had persuaded Gul to draw the graffiti. Later in the evening, the police visited Gul’s home and, according to his elder brother Badrul-Islami forced him to deface the graffiti by spreading patches of black paint over it and then took him along. The police overnight also raided several homes in Padshahi Bagh and arrested several local youth who had reportedly participated in the anti-Israel protest.

The police early Saturday also detained a Muslim cleric Sarjan Barkati from southern Shopian district, two days after he while speaking at a local mosque had reportedly criticized Israeli's military “aggression” against Palestinians and, as per local sources, prayed for the safety of Palestinian women and children.

However, the local police officials said that Barkati was not arrested for his anti-Israel outburst but for making ‘provocative statement’ during his speech to the worshippers on the Eid day. Shopian’s SSP Amrit Pal Singh said that the cleric has been taken into ‘preventive custody’.