What is happening in Kashmir? 10 new developments

Additional CRPF deployed, clampdown on media as state battles violence and unrest for tenth day

Ten days after Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani was eliminated by the armed forces, Kashmir continues to see massive unrest, with the violence claiming over 40 lives. 

The valley has seen protestors pelting stones, along with incidents of mobs attacking camps of armed forces. This has led to counter-attack by the security personnel too. The region has seen a complete standstill due to the curfew, with reports of people being unable to access healthcare facilities. 

The unrest is likely to hit the Parliament as well as the Monsoon Session has commenced.  

Here are ten updates to know on the situation in the region. 

1. Nearly 2,000 additional CRPF personnel have been sent to Kashmir following the death of a protestor. The incident took place when a mob tried to barge into an army camp in Bandipora district of North Kashmir. 

2. Stone pelting incidents continue to rise, with the latest ones being in areas of Kunzer in Baramulla and Eidgah in Srinagar. 

3. Protests have intensified in the valley. On Monday, a PDP legislator was injured after a mob attacked his vehicle and turned it over. The legislator was on his way to Srinagar, according to a report in NDTV. 

4. Former J&K CM, Omar Abdullah, has called the ten-day period as one of the worst in the past decade or so. "This is one of our worst periods in the last decade or so — certainly after the twin summers of 2008 and 2010. What led to it, that is fairly obvious – one of the two things happened: either the state government and its various intelligence wings completely failed to assess the fallout of Burhan Wani’s death; or having assessed it properly, they failed to put into place adequate measures to deal with the fallout,", he said in an interview to The Indian Express.

5. Citing violence and unrest, schools in Kashmir have extended their summer and Eid vacation till July 24. 

6. Mobile internet and telecom services continue to remain suspended in the valley on the back of security threats. BSNL has restored its service, while all private operators remain closed. 

7. The region is also facing a clampdown on the media as the state has gagged newspapers from being published for three days. Today is the third day. 

8. Reports indicate that the police raided printing units of several newspapers and seized the copies of the papers, citing the gag order. Bodies like Editors Guild of India and Indian Journalists Union have called the order an attack on the freedom of the press. 

9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked all parties for their collective common stance on the Kashmir issue. 

10. The Congress took on the government for handling the entire issue. It attacked the government for not taking Opposition’s views to address the problem and also said that the army had used disproportionate force on the protestors. It has sought an all-party meeting to take suggestions from all sides.