Daily Times

SRINAGAR: Indian Home Secretary Rajiv Mahrishi called on Indian-held Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar as hundreds of students clashed with government forces across the region on Thursday.

The high-profile meeting, first of its kind since the student uprising erupted in the state last month, happened around the same time when Indian police teargassed students in Sopore, some 50 km north of the capital Srinagar.

Witnesses said students of a higher secondary school objected to a police checkpoint set up outside the school, but they were chased back to campus by policemen, who fired stun grenades and teargas shells, sparking clashes.

“We were only protesting against police presence but they shelled the campus with teargas and stun grenades. Many students were injured, but they did not go to hospital, fearing getting arrested,” a student of the school who spoke on the condition of anonymity said.

Protests and clashes were also reported from other areas valley which has been in turmoil since the death of Hizb commander Burhan Wani last year.

Although the violence subsided during winter, the killing of nine civilians by Indian forces on the day of parliamentary election on April 9 and the crackdown on students of Pulwama Degree College has since kept IHK in upheaval.

The simmering tensions in Kashmir came up for discussion between the federal officer Mahrishi and Mehbooba whose party, PDP, came to power in the state in alliance with the Hindu nationalists in 2014.

“During the meeting, the union home secretary discussed the overall situation in the State with the chief minister,” a statement of the government said on Thursday.

In their governance agenda, the two parties promised to address the developmental deficit suffered by the state over three decades of political turmoil and start a dialogue process with the Hurriyat and Pakistan for resolving the Kashmir problem.

However, the volte face by the BJP on the issue of talks has put pressure on Mehbooba to walk out of the alliance as the PDP’s popularity suffered a hit in Kashmir Valley, its core constituency. The two parties have also indulged in a public spat with each other on the issue.

The eroding credibility of the local government also comes at a time when insurgency related violence has touched all-time high in recent years in the state and more and more youth are joining militancy to fight against Indian rule, sparking political uncertainty.