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Cops beat traders, damage vehicles : Protests, Aerial Firing In Karan Nagar; Shutdown In Area Today : Srinagar, Mar 18: Police resorted to aerial firing in Karan Nagar area here Wednesday evening to quell protests against the alleged high-handedness of a police official. The firing created panic in the busy area.
Eyewitnesses said that Station House Officer of Karan Nagar police station, Sunil Gupta, hit and damaged many motorcycles and cars of shopkeepers with his jeep. This infuriated the shopkeepers who entered into an argument with the SHO. “While they were protesting against the officer’s misconduct, policemen resorted to firing which triggered panic in the area,” witnesses said.
They said the police beat up scores of shopkeepers and broke the window panes of many vehicles. Shopkeepers said the SHO, an IPS officer on probation, has been recently posted in the area. “This is sheer hooliganism by the officer. He bullies us and holds out threats,” said Shafat Ahmad, a shopkeeper.
The traders downed their shutters and staged protests against the police, seeking transfer of the official from the area. Traffic movement in the area also remained suspended for more than an hour.
When contacted, Gupta said the shopkeepers by parking their vehicles on roads had encroached on the public space. “I have asked them several times not to encroach upon the road. In the afternoon while I was passing through a lane, my vehicle scratched a car. The shopkeepers pelted stones on police and tried to lynch the policemen,” he said. He said the police fired in the air to disperse the stone-pelters.
The Traders Federation Karan Nagar condemned the ‘high-handedness’ of police and demanded action against the police official. The shopkeepers said they would observe a shutdown on Thursday and demanded a probe in the matter. “We won’t open our shops unless the matter is investigated,” the traders said.

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Bomai talks fail, stir to resume : Srinagar, Mar 18: The people of Bomai village near Sopur have decided to resume their agitation from Thursday as the talks between them and the deputy commissioner to extend the deadline for mass migration failed.
According to reports, the deputy commissioner, Latief-uz-Zaman Deva, held a meeting with the Co-ordination Committee spearheading the agitation in the aftermath of killing of two civilians by the troopers of army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles on February 21 and asked for more time for the removal of Rajinder Post from the village.
However, sources said, the Committee outrightly rejected the demand for extension of the deadline for resuming the agitation and their migration from the village. “We have been co-operating with the administration and gave sufficient time for fulfilling the assurances. But, there has been no forward movement in the direction, nor have the army left the village,” the Committee chairman, Hakim-ur-Rahman, told Greater Kashmir, describing the authorities’ failure to fulfill the assurances as “a cruel joke.”
Although the deputy commissioner appealed to the Committee to abandon their agitation and defer their proposed mass migration from the village on March 21, the latter rejected the demand.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, Deva confirmed the meeting had been held and that he had urged the Bomai villagers to defer their agitation as the government was considering action against the accused soldiers. “The issue is under consideration with the state and central governments and the decision rests with them,” he said.
The Co-ordination Committee spokesman, Maulvi Abdur Rasheed, said the army camp was still in the village while the army’s refusal to be part of the government probe had added another sinister dimension to the issue. He said the protest hartal would be resumed on Thursday. “On March 20, protest demonstrations would be staged after Friday prayers at which detailed instructions would be given to the villagers about the mass migration which will commence on March 21,” Rasheed said, adding the villagers were all set to migrate from the village whuile the people of Sopur had offered every help.

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Don’t compromise: Jamiat to Hurriyat (M) : Srinagar: Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen outfit has asked Hurriyat Conference (M) not to make any compromise on Kashmir with New Delhi and also advised Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani to return back to Srinagar soon.
Local news agency, KNS, quoting Jamiat spokesman said, “Hurriyat (M) should end its double standards. They entered into negotiations with Atal Behari Vajpayee led government earlier but achieved was nothing. They shouldn’t take any decision on behalf of the Kashmiri nation.”
“Negotiations with India are futile and will only lead the nation to confusion. Our sincere advice to Hurriyat (M) is to end its double standards,” he said.
The spokesman also advised Geelani to return back to Kashmir. “His delayed stay in Delhi isn’t feasible at this juncture. He should immediately cut short his visit,” the spokesman said.

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Obama administration to work ‘secretly’ for K-resolution : Srinagar, Mar 18: The United States president Barrack Obama is understood to have asked his administration to quietly focus on Kashmir.
A wire agency quoting sources said the former US diplomat William Milam has identified Kashmir as one of the issues, which needs immediate attention.
“Kashmir is a very delicate issue. I think this administration will focus on it quietly. It will be hard to determine this focus, as it will be done under wraps,” the wire agency quoted Milam, who has served as America’s ambassador in Islamabad from 1998 to 2001, as having said.
“Everything that Pakistan does, at least in foreign affairs and security issues, is viewed through the lens of India, which it views as its eternally hostile neighbour,” Milam said, adding that the US can’t do much at least on the issue of Kashmir due to India’s position on it.
“There’s no good way we can do this. We certainly cannot meddle or even mediate on the issues, particularly the Kashmir. But we really have to work on putting this back together,” Milam said.

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NEWS / Articles are reproductions of Local News Papers (Greater Kashmir & Others) So the legal rights are with there respective Writers / Publishers

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