SRINAGAR, Jan 05 (TNS): At least 2,729 youth were arrested in Kashmir and 129 others booked under the Public Safety Act in 2017 on charges of stone-pelting and participating in street protests, the police data has revealed. This is in sharp contrast to such figures in 2016, when at least 2,897 incidents of “law and order” were recorded in Kashmir following which 11,449 youth were arrested and 439 booked under the PSA.
The data and observations accessed by Greater Kashmir from the zonal police headquarters reveal that the “hangover” of 2016 uprising continued for about first five months of 2017, but the situation thereafter was “brought under control.”
The records maintain that a total of 879 incidents of “law and order” took place during 2017, mostly in southern districts of Kashmir including Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian. About 1,900 youth were arrested from these districts alone for their alleged role in stone-throwing and street protests during the year, the police data says.
It says that of 129 youth booked under PSA in 2017, 90 were from southern areas of Kashmir.
The other arrests, according to official records, have also taken place in districts of Budgam, Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara.
According to an official source, the first “litmus test” for the government in 2017 was to hold by-polls for the Srinagar parliamentary seat comprising three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal, on April 9. However, he said, it turned out to be very challenging as massive protests took place in all the three districts and nine people were killed on the poll day in action by government forces, while the poll percentage dipped to mere seven percent.
A senior police officer at zonal police headquarters, who said the police are monitoring developments on ground, asserted that there is a “visible decline in stone throwing and street protests” in Kashmir. He said that there were several weeks since the later part of 2017 when not even a single incident of stone pelting was reported.
“During 2016, there used to be about five dozen stone-throwing incidents taking place almost every day,” he said. “Our figures indicate that there is a huge improvement in law and order situation in Kashmir.”
