Mir Junaid
Police on Thursday lobbed tear smoke shells on Kashmiri mourners in Srinagar District for foul Muharram processions,
Eyewitnesses told The Kashmiriyat that several hundreds of people on Thursday afternoon took out a Muharram procession from Hassanabad in Rainawari area of the district to commermorate the martyrdom anniversary of the grandson of the last Messenger of the Allah, Imam e Hussain (a.s).
The 7th Muharram procession from Kathi Darwaza in Srinagar’s Rainawari to Imam Barah Hassanabad, is led by Itehad ul Muslieem and Anjuman e Shari and is one of the largest Muharram procession during these ten days of mourning.
Chanting “Labaik Ya Hussain”, mourners were marching towards Kathi Darwaza in Srinagar, when the Government Forces deployed in the area fired tear smoke shells at them after intercepting them.
“We do not understand why are we being targeted time and again for following our religious beliefs, why is the police foiling our marches and using tear gas shells on us,” a mourner who was a part of the procession told The Kashmiriyat.
On Wednesday, another Muharram procession was fired upon with tear smoke shells in the Budgam district, the incident evoked widespread condemnation from all sections of life.
Ruhullah Mehdi, the Jammu Kashmir National conference member and former minister taking to his twitter wrote, ” The @JmuKmrPolice Budgam’s today’s behaviour in Budgam is completely unacceptable did not go unnoticed. I may have my own opinions about processions and SOPs related to it. But this rogue behaviour in shape on flexing mussels and firing on mourners is un expectable.”
Directing another tweet to the DC of the Budgam District he tweeted, @DC_Budgam ,this imposition of curfew is a deliberate provocation by the administration. This curfew and beating up of people going out for their routine life will have a backlash on you and it will turn the situation from bad to worse.”