Protests, tension heighten in Kashmir as trucker attacked during beef row dies

Srinagar: Protests erupted in parts of Kashmir Valley on Sunday following the death of 23-year-old Zahid Rasool Butt who was part of the crew of a Kashmir bound truck attacked and seriously injured by alleged activists of Sangh Parivar along the Jammu-Srinagar highway during beef row earlier this month.

As the news about Butt’s succumbing to his injuries in Delhi’s Safdarjang Hospital reached his native village Batengo in southern Anantnag district, people took to the streets to hold protests. They blocked the Srinagar-Jammu highway with burning used car tyres and other obstacles and soon clashed with police which tried to disperse them by firing teargas and pepper gas canisters.

Elsewhere in the Valley, police and CRPF reinforcements were quickly fanned out as a precautionary measure in view of heightening tensions. Various separatist parties, Kashmir Economic Alliance which is an amalgam of Valley’s trade and business organizations and Kashmir Transporters’ Welfare Association have called for a shutdown on Monday to mourn and protest the ‘murder of Zahid Butt by RSS and BJP goons.” In a first in 25 years, an outfit of the Valley’s Pandits called Kashmir Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) has endorsed the strike call.

In view of the strike call, several private schools including Delhi Public School have announced they will remain shut on Monday. The first convocation of Islamic University of Science & Technology (IUST) scheduled to be held at Awantipore near here and which was to be attended by Union Human Resources Development Minister, Smriti Zubin Irani, has been deferred by one day. Kashmir University and J&K Board of School Education have postponed all examinations scheduled to be held on Monday.

Many people took to the social networking sites to mourn and protest Butt’s murder. Former Chief Minister and working president of Opposition National Conference (NC), Omar Abdullah, blamed the incident on Mufti Muhammad Sayeed-led PDP-BJP government. He wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.com “Another needless death in the name of #BeefBan for which the BJP & its affiliates including allies are directly responsible”.

Another needless death in the name of #BeefBan for which the BJP & its affiliates including allies are directly responsible.

— Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) October 18, 2015

In another tweet, he said, “I met him yesterday & though he was sitting up & communicating doctors were non-committal about his chances. Prayers with #Zahid's family.” Taking a dig at Chief Minister Mr. Sayeed, the NC leader in yet another tweet said, “And to think that all the state Govt could do was to throw 10,000 rupees at #Zahid & wash its’ hands off the whole thing #BeefMurder”. Reacting to controversial BJP lawmaker Sakshi Maharaj ‘s pitching for a law that provides for death penalty for cow slaughter, Mr. Abdullah asked, “What about those who burn people alive????”

NC president and former Union minister Farooq Abdullah described the attack on the truck as “a shocking reminder of intolerance and frenzy perpetrated by elements inimical to peace and tranquillity”. Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, “Zahid’s murder is a clear cut indication of the nefarious designs the communal elements and rightwing fanatics have for Kashmir.” He added, “The Kashmiris have every right to express their anger and outrage against it by observing a shutdown”. Chief Minister, Mr. Sayeed, whileexpressing ‘deep shock and grief’ over the death of Butt said he regrets that “one more precious life has been lost to the politics of hate and intolerance that is posing a grave challenge to the state and country’s plurality”.

On October 9 night, a Valley-bound truck was attacked by a group of people at Shiv Nagar along Jammu-Srinagar highway in Udhampur district. The assailants targeted the truck with a petrol bomb, leaving two crew members including Butt seriously injured. A policeman also received burn injuries while rescuing the truckers.

The driver of the truck, Rameez Ahmed Butt, who escaped unhurt after jumping out and hiding himself under the damaged truck had alleged that the conductor of the truck 35-year-old Showkat Ahmed Dar and helper Zahid Butt also tried to flee to safety but were caught by the assailants who “sprinkled petrol over their clothes and then lit a match stick to put them on fire”.

He had also said that a policeman patrolling the area tried to save the duo “but goons beat him up as well” and that after few minutes, few policemen arrived on spot and “tried their best to put out the fire”.

Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, had said police immediately arrested six persons involved in the attack as CCTV footage shows them hurling the bomb inside the stationary truck bearing registration number JK03D-1142 after damaging its windowpanes. The truck was on its way to Srinagar from Delhi after unloading apple consignment there. The traffic on the 294-km highway had been halted earlier in view of a day-long strike called in the area following the recovery of three carcasses of cows.

Read: Truck conductor's body flown from Delhi to Srinagar

The seriously injured Dar and Butt were flown to Delhi and admitted in Safdarjang Hospital there for specialised treatment after receiving initial treatment in a Jammu hospital. They were visited by several politicians and State government functionaries including Chief Minister, Mr. Sayeed, Mr. Abdullah and Mr. Rashid over the past week. Back in Srinagar, the parents of the injured persons had at a press conference to allege that a government official threatened them that they would be booked under the State’s stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) if they tried to make the incident an issue. They also announced to return Rs. 10, 000, the amount given to them by the district administration to meet expenses on their travel to Delhi to meet the injured.

Meanwhile, an official spokesperson said in Srinagar that five of the eight persons involved in the October 9 attack have been booked under the PSA and that while seven accused have been arrested, searches are on for the eighth person who is absconding.

He said, “The criminals booked under PSA include Sandoor Singh, Danish, Harish Singh Katoch, Balbahadur Singh alias Abbu and Varinder Singh alias Kaka.” He added that Kaka is a resident of Nepal whereas the other accused are locals. They and other accused have been booked vide FIR No 368/2015 lodged u/s 307/336/436/147/148/120-B/427 Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) and 3/5 of Explosives Substances Act. Police sources added that since one of the victims has died the relevant provisions of the RPC will be incorporated in the FIR.

In the afternoon, Zahid’s body was blown here from Delhi in the State aircraft. Ruling PDP president and MP Mehbooba Mufti received it at the Srinagar airport. She was accompanied by ministers Syed Basharat Bukhari and Haseeb A Drabu.