Srinagar, May 9: The police fired teargas canisters and used bamboo sticks in an attempt to stop a huge crowd being led by hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani from relocating to the city centre here after he addressed a Friday congregation at Zaina Kadal in central Srinagar.
Earlier, a group of youth believed to be supporters of the rival faction of Hurriyat Conference hurled rocks and other missiles at the Geelani-led procession but quickly disappeared in dark alleys when his aides turned on them. Witnesses said that the police and CRPF men, while chasing the Geelani supporters, started beating up whosoever came their way.
Even small children and reporters were not spared. Several persons, including a boy riding a bicycle, were injured in the police action evoking resentment from the residents. The police, however, claimed that it used force only to disengage two warring groups of people.
Mr Geelani while speaking at congregation said that by renaming Kashmir’s first political party Muslim Conference as National Conference in 1938 to give it a secular outlook Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah had only sowed the seeds of discord among the Muslims of the state.
“The move culminated into the sher-bakra conflict between his supporters and those opposed to the political ideology he stood for,” Mr Geelani said and made a passionate appeal to the people to sta-nd united and boycott the upcoming elections for the sake of “martyrs’ honour.”
