J&K death toll rises to 12

Shravan Shuddha Dashami

Srinagar (J&K): Violence in Kashmir region left 12 people dead in firing by security forces as authorities clamped curfew on all the 10 districts in the Valley for the first time in 13 years.

Amid pro-freedom slogans, the body of senior Hurriyat Conference leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who was killed in police firing on Monday, was laid to rest at Eidgah graveyard here on Tuesday.

Defying curfew in force in Srinagar city since Monday, thousands of people led by separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mohammad Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq attended the burial amid calls for maintaining peace.

The death toll in firing by security forces rose to 18 on Tuesday. Six people including Aziz were killed in Monday’s firing during a march towards Muzaffarabad by thousands protesting against the "economic blockade" in Jammu region by the group spearheading the Amarnath agitation.

In Kishtwar, the army was called out after two persons were killed and over 20 others injured in clashes, police firing and a grenade blast, officials said. Police earlier lobbed teargas shells to disperse groups belonging to two communities which pelted stones at each other at Kishtwar’s Hidyal Chowk.

Security forces opened fire in several areas in the Valley killing three persons each in Aribal in Bandipora district and Lasjan in outskirts of Srinagar, two in Bagh-e-Mehtab area and protester each in Rainawari and Zoonimar, all in Srinagar area, and one each in Ganderbal and Anantnag district, official sources said.

One of the victims was a local journalist identified as Javed Ahmed Mir who died in police firing in Bagh-e-Mehtab area.

PM calls for second all-party meeting

New Delhi: With violence spiralling out of control in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for a second all-party meeting on Wednesday to try to hammer out a viable consensus formula that could be acceptable to both Jammu and the Kashmir Valley. ( Watch )

An all-party delegation headed by Home Minister Shivraj Patil that carried an on-the-spot assessment after visiting both Jammu and Srinagar over the weekend failed to arrive at an agreement on finding a compromise solution to the crisis.

The meeting was attended by NC leader Farooq Abdullah, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and SP leader Amar Singh among others.

"The leaders met again Tuesday but could not arrive at a workable formula or solution that would appease the people," said a senior government functionary.

In the last meeting on August 5, the prime minister appealed for calm and decided to send a delegation to the troubled state.

During its trip, the delegation held talks with the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, which has been spearheading the agitation in Jammu to press for restoration of the land transfer to the Amarnath shrine board – a demand fiercely opposed by the Kashmir leaders – besides holding parleys with the leaders of the valley.

Source: Times of India

Also See

1. Sign the Petition to get back Amarnath Land
2. Hindu Genocide in Kashmir