National Conference protests govt's handling of unrest, use of pellet guns

SRINAGAR: National Conference today took out a rally here protesting the government's handling of the situation in the Kashmir Valley and demanding that the use of pellet guns by security forces as a crowd control measure be stopped immediately.

"They are using bullets and pellets, inflicting atrocities on the people, resorting to mass arrests and crackdowns. It is the second month of curfew, crackdowns and bandhs which have caused a lot of problems for the people. We demand that the government stop all this," NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, who led the march from the party's headquarter at Nawa-i-Subh to Civil Secretariat, told reporters.

However, the protesters, including party leaders and legislators, were stopped by police near the Zero Bridge, following which they staged a sit-in there.

Sagar said it was "shameful" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not even make a mention of the unrest in Kashmir in his radio programme "Mann Ki Baat".

"Those asserting Kashmir as their integral part fall silent when it comes to pain and misery of the people here," he said.

"When we met the (Union) Home Minister, he assured us that the (use of) pellet guns and excessive force will be stopped immediately, but nothing has been done in this regard yet.

"Around 450 people were injured on Friday due to pellet gun firing. Yesterday also, around 100 people were injured and 1500 arrested. We are protesting against this," the NC leader said.