Stone-throwing protests, which had once become relics of the past, took the centre stage in Kashmir last week again as the Valley witnessed sporadic demonstrations, though the police were successfully able to squash them.
In the wake of the demise of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the Jammu & Kashmir administration clamped down on what it believed could potentially become the progenitors of “trouble.”
The Internet was shut down and phone networks taken out. There were several arrests, too. One family from the south Kashmir town of Pulwama said the police whisked away their father, a senior member of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, the night that Geelani breathed his last. He was released four days later, said his son, who pleaded anonymity. There were several other “transient” arrests as well, reports confirmed.