Youth will be released after counseling: Police Chief

Srinagar: The South Kashmir’s Anantnag town on Sunday remained tense with intense protests and clashes between government forces and locals over the nocturnal raids in which over 36 youth were rounded up.

Hundreds of people along with children and women took to the streets on Sunday morning and chanted the pro freedom and anti India slogans at Mutton Chowk. They said police during the overnight raid across town leashed the reign of terror among people and arrested dozens of youth who protested the killing of Zahid Rasool by Hindu communal forces in Udhampur district on October 9.

As police refused to succumb to the public outcry, in afternoon hundreds of people especially youth took out the public address systems from mosque and announced shut down in the market.

 They insisted shopkeepers and other business people to close their businesses against the detention of youth by police prompting local political activists to press police for their demand.

"This is irony that Hindus in Jammu are allowed to take out rallies carrying arms and here we are not even being allowed to mourn the killings of our loved ones. Mufti has betrayed the people of the valley in general and of his constituency in particular. If the boys detained by police during last few days are not released the situation in the town will take an ugly turn," said a protester, Mohammad Jabar

However, the police said that the youth, most of them teenagers, will be released only after proper counseling and seeking written assurances from their parents that in future they will not involve in stone pelting and protests.

“All these 36 boys were involved in stone-pelting activities and in creating trouble in the area. We have not invoked any charges against them till now,” said Kashmir’s police Chief, Javaid Mujtaba Geelani to KNS. “We are counseling all these boys and get written assurances from their parents that they will not participate in any such activity in future.”

He said counseling is a part of police strategy to de-motivate these youth from such activities “The strategy has already worked in Srinagar and other parts of Valley where large number of youth were motivated not to get involved in such activities,” he said.

Pertinently, the police agreed to release the youth after unanimous demand from separatist groups besides from senior PDP leader Peerzada Hussain and several others.