Students clash with police in Srinagar

Rifat Mohidin

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 24

As educational institutions opened on Monday after a week in the Kashmir valley, students, including girls, clashed with the police and indulged in stone-throwing. It triggered a shutdown in the commercial hub, Lal Chowk.

The police arrested six protesting students on the spot and lodged them at the Kothi Bagh police station.

The officials said the situation remained largely peaceful in other educational institutions in the Valley, including Degree College, Pulwama, where students attended their classes after a week of suspension.

“The situation in Pulwama and other places was normal. There were disturbances around SP Higher Secondary School where students clashed with the police and marched towards the commercial hub,” said a senior government official.

Meanwhile, Srinagar SSP sustained minor injuries in the clashes at Lal Chowk which spread to Regal Chowk, Residency Road and Amira Kadal.

The protesters were mainly from SP Higher Secondary School, SP College, Government College for Women, MA Road, and Kothi Bagh Higher Secondary School, all located in the vicinity.

Protests erupted in the Valley on April 17 against the assault on students in Pulwama Degree College on April 13. All the educational institutions witnessed massive protests forcing the authorities to close the colleges from April 18 to April 23.

After the incident, the protests spread to all parts of the Valley, especially Government College for Women and SP College, Srinagar, and other districts injuring around 70 students.

However, the colleges and schools reopened today after six days leading to clashes again.

Education Minister Syed Altaf Bukhari said the colleges and schools would continue to function normally.

“The situation was normal at all colleges, including those in Pulwama. There were some clashes at SP Higher Secondary School where we will post additional staff from tomorrow so that the situation is handled peacefully. The educational institutions will continue to function normally. No college or school will be closed,” the minister said. He appealed to the students to concentrate on their studies as the government would take care of all their issues.

Girls too join in protests 

Meanwhile, girl students also took to streets and clashed with the police. This is for the first time in the Valley, that a large number of girls also indulged in stone-throwing. Photographs of girls throwing stones on the police went viral on social networking sites like Facebook.