Protests erupt against police raid on college

Hundreds of students clashed with government forces in Jammu and Kashmir during protests yesterday against a police raid on a college, as tensions ran high in the state.Around 100 students were injured as police used batons and tear gas to try to quell the protests, which broke out in the main city of Srinagar before spreading to other parts of the Kashmir Valley.Teenagers in school uniform and women students wearing white headscarves were among the protesters, who chanted anti-India slogans and threw stones at government forces.A student union had called for protests after police on Saturday tried to raid a college in the southern district of Pulwama to round up suspects in recent violent demonstrations, sparking clashes in which at least 60 students were injured.“Students are protesting in a few colleges. We are dealing with a situation,” a senior police office said.Kashmir has been tense since April 9, when eight people were killed by police and paramilitary troops during election day violence.On Saturday a street vendor was shot dead by the Border Security Force and on Sunday three people were killed by suspected rebels, one a former counter-insurgent.The Kashmir University Students Union, a banned student body, had called for protests in all colleges and universities following Saturday’s incident.Government forces are not supposed to enter college or university premises without special permission, and on Saturday, the union said the police action was designed to help the state “rule by repression and fear”.Footage apparently showing a civilian tied to the front of an army jeep to deter protesters from throwing stones at the vehicle has also caused outrage after it was circulated on social media last week.The army has launched an investigation into the incident and police have registered a case although no arrests have yet been made.Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the video’s authenticity was being ascertained, adding, “action will be taken against those found guilty of misconduct.”Soldiers picked up the shawl weaver, Farooq Ahmad Dar, near the home of a relative after he voted, he told media.“Look at the fate of the stone-pelter,” a soldier is heard saying over a loudspeaker in the video while Dar is tied to the vehicle.“This is a phenomenon that has been going on for the last 27 years,” Khurram Parvez, a leading Kashmiri human rights activist jailed last year, said.“This is not the first human shield case. What is different now is that this case has been documented, thanks to social media.”Dar’s treatment was “unlawful and unacceptable” rights group Amnesty International said in a statement.Over the weekend two more videos circulated on social media showing workers of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party renouncing mainstream politics, one of them beside a man wielding a gun.Another video, allegedly showing the killing of a 17-year old by paramilitary officers during the April 9 by-election, has also stirred anger.The come ahead of the hot summer months, when protests surge.Kashmir witnessed deadly protests after militant leader Burhan Wani was killed last year.Violence has declined since the early 2000s, when thousands died each year, but disillusionment and anger against Indian rule is widespread, and the separatist revolt is now largely homegrown.