A journalist in Kupwara has been targeted with pellets after he ignored police warning to black out reports on the atrocities committed by the government forces in the north Kashmir district. The scribe has been hit in eyes threatening his vision.
Mir Javid, Associative Editor of Kashmir News Network, an Urdu news gathering agency alleged that police personnel targeted him with pellets on Friday when he was collecting details about the police action against peaceful protesters in the area. He said a policeman first warned him against reporting the details to newspapers in Srinagar “but when I refused to relent, they warned me of dire consequences”.
He said on the fateful day, people had come out on streets to protest against state atrocities and the alleged molestation of a woman in the area. “When I reached the spot, police and CRPF personnel were thrashing the people, vandalizing public property, ransacking houses and beating up women folk, children and the elderly. They were behaving like beasts,” Javid told Kashmir Reader.
He said police attacked him when he was about to enter his home after collecting all the details. “I was showered with pellets. My left eye was injured and blodd was oozing out of my entire body,” he said.
He said the police personnel chased the injured persons to the Kralgund hospital to prevent administration of first aid.
“They (police) tried to arrest the injured persons before their treatment started but a stiff resistance from people forced the police to retreat. However, before leaving the premises, they ransacked the hospital property and exploded tear smoke shells to create disturbance,” he said.
Some volunteers later shifted Javid to a nearby village for the overnight stay before he was escorted to Srinagar for treatment. “Police were hunting for the injured in order to arrest them,” he said. During this stay, many pellets were pulled out from his body by the volunteers using a nail-clipper. On Saturday, Javid was admitted at SMHS where he is being treated for his eye injury.
(KR)