Highlights
- PM Modi chairs a cabinet committee meeting on Tuesday
- Rajnath Singh defers US visit to September because of Kashmir clashes
- 30 killed in Kashmir including 1 policeman; over 1,400 injured
As Kashmir heads for the fifth straight day of clashes, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday appealed to parents to "rein in agitated youth" and help maintain calm. Thirty-one people have died and over 1,400 been injured in the state as clashes continue over Friday night's killing of 22-year-old terrorist Burhan Wani.
Here are the latest developments:
The government will do what it can, but parents must take charge and ensure that your child doesn't go out in curfew," Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Tuesday in a message for peace.
The Chief Minister added that she was "extremely disappointed at how the government failed to contain the clashes" and said the police will be held accountable for the use of excessive force.
Police say there were over 500 clashes between mobs and the security forces across Kashmir over the last four days. Of the 31 people who died, one is a police officer.
At least 16 persons were injured on Tuesday in South Kashmir's Tral when protesters reportedly attacked the CRPF camp in the area and paramilitary personnel opened fire, sources said. A police post was set on fire in Pulwama district. A youth was killed in Kupwara when security forces opened fire on protesters who attacked a police station.
Kashmir, which has been under curfew since Saturday, is running short of essential items, especially medical supplies which are urgently needed.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called on all parties to exercise "maximum restraint" to avoid further violence in Kashmir. "The Secretary-General is closely following the recent clashes in Kashmir," a statement issued from Ban's office read.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ,who returned from a tour of Africa this morning, was briefed about the crisis by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who has cancelled an official trip he was to make to the US next week.
Last evening, 12 paramilitary personnel were injured as a grenade was hurled from within a crowd of stone-throwers in Srinagar. "Militants using stone pelting mobs as cover is a serious development," an intelligence official was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
Cellphone and internet services have been disabled in large parts of the Kashmir Valley. The famous Amarnath Yatra, which draws thousands of pilgrims from around the country to a shrine in a cave, has been partially resumed.
The Pakistani government has tried to exacerbate the anti-government sentiment in the Valley by declaring Hizbul Mujahideen's Burhan Wani as "Kashmiri leader" and expressing outrage over his killing.
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