Stone pelting in Kashmir

Kashmiri youth throwing stones at Indian armed forces during 2016 Kashmir Unrest

Stone Pelting in Kashmir refers to criminal rock throwing by Kashmiri youths who pelt, bombard or throw stones on Indian Armed Forces and Jammu and Kashmir Police. In the local language, it is termed as "Kanni Jung", which means fighting with stones and the stone pelters are called as Sangbaaz.[1]

History

In the past, stones were pelted by the Kashmiri youth on the police in the streets of Srinagar for expressing their anger during 1931 Kashmir agitation.[2] After the rise of insurgency and separatist movement in Kashmir conflict, the stone pelting incidents became prominent in Kashmir from the 2008 Kashmir protests in which the freedom movement had taken a new dimension from gun-fighting with armed forces to the pelting of stones on them.[1][3] After the year 2008, stone pelting incidents in the valley were reported on regular basis, the prominent among them were recorded in 2010 Kashmir Unrest and 2016-17 Kashmir Unrest, nevertheless minor skirmishes were also reported in those intermediate years.[4][5]

In 2017 the publicity office of the Pakistan Army (Inter-Services Public Relations) produced an anthem for the stone-pelters, entitled Sangbaaz ("stone-pelters,) the lyrics refer to the allegation that soldiers shoort rubber bullets at rock-throwers eyes to blind them, "You can snatch out our eyes, but you cannot snatch our dreams."[6] The song, which celebrates the stone-pelters as heroes working for the liberation of Kashmir was released on video by Major General Asif Ghafoor in a tweet.[7]

Commentary

According to scholar Waheeda Khan, most of the 'stone-pelters' are school and college going students. The stone-pelters, in turn get attacked by the armed personnel with pellets, rubber bullets, sling shots and tear gas shells. This leads to eye-injuries and several other kind of injuries to many people. Security forces also face injuries, and sometimes get beaten up during these events. Large number of these people get arrested during these events for allegedly resorting to stone-pelting, after which some of them are also tortured. According to political activist Mannan Bukhari, Kashmiris made stone, an easily accessible and defenseless weapon, their weapon of choice for protest.[8][9]

Kashmiri senior journalist Parvaiz Bukhari remarked:[9][10]

The summer of 2010 witnessed a convulsion in the world’s most militarized zone, the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, an unprecedented and deadly civil unrest that is beginning to change a few things on the ground. [...] Little known and relatively anonymous resistance activists emerged, organizing an unarmed agitation more fierce than the armed rebellion against Indian rule two decades earlier. And apparently aware of the post 9/11 world, young Kashmiris, children of the conflict, made stones and rocks a weapon of choice against government armed forces, side-stepping the tag of a terrorist movement linked with Pakistan. The unrest represents a conscious transition to an unarmed mass movement, one that poses a moral challenge to New Delhi’s military domination over the region.

An essay in The Hindu claimed that stone pelting is driven by the brutal killings of Kashmiri youth at the hands of Indian forces.[3]

On 28 April 2017, talking about the stone pelters in Kashmir, the Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat has said, "In fact, I wish these people, instead of throwing stones at us, were firing weapons at us. Then I would have been happy. Then I could do what I (want to do)."[11]

Reports

During the 2016–17 Kashmir unrest, in March 2017, India Today, after conducting an investigative operation in the Valley, has reported that some stone-pelters are paid for protesting by separatist forces. India Today interviewed five protesters from Baramulla district who confessed on camera that they are paid an amount of Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 a month and are also provided with clothes and shoes. One of them also said that separate funds are given for making petrol bombs. They refused to disclose the identity of the financiers.[12] In April 2017, a report by Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) has stated that the Pakistan's intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) supplied Rs 800 crore to Kashmiri separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Asiya Andrabi to fuel unrest in the Valley. As per the report, the funds supplied by the ISI were used to pay off stone-pelters and petrol bomb throwers, and also to propagate anti-India and anti-security forces sentiments in the Valley.[13]

Incidents

In 2016, Kashmir witnessed 2690 stone pelting incidents in various districts with Baramulla topping the list with 492 incidents followed by Srinagar and Kupwara each with 339 incidents. The least recorded incidents were 65 in Ganderbal. According to official data of state home department, North Kashmir saw the highest number of 1,248 incidents followed by 875 incidents in South Kashmir and 567 in Central Kashmir.[14]

On 7 September 2018, Jammu and Kashmir plainclothes policemen disguised themselves as stone-pelters and mingled among a stone pelting mob in Srinagar, resulting in the successful arrests of repeat stone-pelting offenders.[15] The policemen threw stones as well as used toy guns as part of the disguise.[16] This strategy had previously been used by the police in the region during the 2010 unrest in Kashmir.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Stone Pelting and Kashmiri Youth". The Analyst World. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  2. ↑ Kaur, Ravinderjit (1996). Political Awakening in Kashmir. APH Publishing. p. 164. ISBN 9788170247098.
  3. 1 2 "Understanding Kashmir's stone pelters". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  4. ↑ "Kashmir Shuts To Remember Afzal Guru - Local News". Kashmir Observer. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  5. ↑ "Kashmir Unrest: Stone-pelting Incidents Reported from Over Dozen Places". News18. 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  6. ↑ Constable, Pamela (6 February 2017). "Pakistan's Kashmir Solidarity Day co-opted by supporters of detained Muslim cleric". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Pakistan army releases song glorifying stone pelters". The Times of India. TNN. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  8. ↑ Deb, Sibnath (2015-08-05). "Waheeda Khan, Conflict in Kashmir.". Child Safety, Welfare and Well-being: Issues and Challenges. Springer. p. 88. ISBN 9788132224259.
  9. 1 2 Bukhari, Mannan (2015-07-28). Kashmir - Scars of Pellet Gun: The Brutal Face of Suppression. Partridge Publishing. p. 44. ISBN 9781482850062.
  10. ↑ "Summers of Unrest Challenging India". www.kashmirlife.net. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  11. ↑ "Army chief Bipin Rawat on Kashmir unrest: Wish protesters fired at us instead of pelting stones". India Today. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  12. ↑ "Stone pelters on hire in Kashmir: India Today nails Valleys insidious villains". India Today. Retrieved 2017-05-13.
  13. ↑ "Pakistans ISI paid Kashmiri separatists Rs 800 crore to fuel unrest in Kashmir, says Intelligence Bureau report". India Today. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  14. ↑ "Kashmir witnessed 2690 stone pelting incidents in 2016". Kashmirmonitor.in. 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  15. ↑ "How J&K cops used a novel strategy to nab stone-pelters in Srinagar - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  16. ↑ "Toy guns, covert cops: Jammu and Kashmir Police plants its men among stone pelters to catch real culprits in action - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  17. ↑ "Jammu and Kashmir policemen disguise as stone pelters to catch real culprits". Hindustan Times. 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  18. ↑ "J&K Policemen Disguise As Stone Pelters To Arrest Culprits". Outlook India. Retrieved 2018-09-08.

Further reading

  • Faysal, Muhammad (1 May 2017). "From Akbar to Modi, Kashmiris have a history of pelting stones at oppressors". Dawn.
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