Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard at a closed market area during restrictions in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, November 7, 2015.
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“The boy was injured in clashes with security forces and died on the way to hospital”, IGP Javaid Geelani told AFP.
Mobile internet services in Kashmir Valley were blocked this morning as a precautionary measure in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Srinagar.
“Prime Minister has talked about kashmiriyat, jamooriyat, and insaniyat earlier also, he should also define his policy initiatives and it should be limited to rhetoric”, said Ellora Puri, political science professor at Jammu University.
Kashmir has suffered a lot over the years, generations have seen their dreams being crushed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi showered down abundant promises to the Kashmir state during his highly speculated trip to Srinagar on Saturday.
The region had been in a security lockdown throughout the day to prevent anti-India protests during Modi’s visit.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, another key Kashmiri separatist leader under house arrest, said Modi’s speech was “nothing but full of rhetoric”.
Srinagar was hardest hit after the rain-swollen River Jhelum burst its banks in September 2014 leaving thousands stranded.
Demanding support from every corner and every last person of India, Modi said he needs to bring back those days when everyone used to look forward to visit Kashmir. “People believed that he would address the political dimension of the Kashmir problem by inviting separatists and well as Pakistan for dialogue”, he said.
He said that announced economic package is not any gift to Kashmiris as Indian government has looted and is looting the natural resources of Kashmir since 1947.
“Not only our treasury, but our heart also beats for you”, PM Modi said to a thunderous applause in Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium.
However, the BBC quoted Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister of the region, as saying “Modi has made the same mistake of weighing the Kashmir issue in rupees”.
The Muslim-majority state of Kashmir is divided between Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, with both claiming the entire territory.
The authorities have detained hundreds of pro-freedom leaders, their supporters and former protesters to prevent them from holding a “Million March”, which was to be held 100 m away from the venue where the prime minister is expected to speak on Saturday.
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The heightened security arrangements have been put in place as separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has called for a parallel rally to that of the Prime Minister at Tourist Reception Centre ground – stone’s throw from the stadium.
