A day after 54 students were injured in Pulwama Government College during clashes with forces, college students in the Kashmir Valley held protests to express solidarity with their Pulwama colleagues.Dozens of students were injured in the clashes with forces, while seven students were treated in SMHS with three having pellets, three stones and one shell injury, officials said, adding that police cops were also injured.The protests erupted today as soon as the students assembled in college premises. The protests began from S P College in Srinagar and as the news of protests spread, students in other colleges too protested.The colleges where protests were held included Srinagar, Shopian, Sopore, Handwara, Kulgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Tral, Pattan and Bandipora. Thousands of students tried to march in the protests, however, police and paramilitary forces thwarted their marches using batons, teargas shells and pellet shotguns.According to KNS correspondent, in the early hours today, clashes erupted in the commercial Hub Lal Chowk after the forces foiled the protest march of SP College students.
Witnesses said that the police resorted to teargas shelling to disperse the protesting students on MA road, triggering clashes in the area. The students assembled inside the college premises and decided to stage solidarity protest.Amid pro-freedom sloganeering, the students tried to march towards the main road but the forces didn’t allow them to move onwards thereby triggering clashes in the area.Reports quoting the police officials said that they had asked the students to stage protests at Press Colony instead of blocking the road. However, they didn’t agree and continued to block the road.Minor clashes also erupted in Baba Demb area after the students of MPML Higher secondary and Gandhi College jointly carried out a solidarity protest march with Pulwama Degree College students.Sources said that the forces used tear gas canisters to disperse the youth who were throwing stone on them.Meanwhile, according to KNS correspondent, the students of Amira Kadal Girls College also staged a protest march from their college to Magarmnal Bagh Chowk. The girl protesters were raising slogans in favour of ‘Azadi’. Meanwhile, reports of clashes between the students and the forces were also received from various other colleges of several districts.Dozens of students at various districts including Kulgam, Shopian, Srinagar and others sustained injuries during the clashes who were either treated locally or were shifted to the hospitals for treatment.
In Handwara, according to the local sources two girl students received minor injuries after forces used tear gas canisters to disperse the protesting students.They informed KNS that the clashes erupted in Handawara after the students tried to march towards the main Chowk from Degree College here, amid pro-freedom and anti-India sloganeering.“The forces used tear smoke shells to disperse the students triggering clashes in the area. During the incident, two girl students sustained minor injuries,” local sources said.Meanwhile, following the stone pelting incidents, the authorities suspended the mobile internet services in Kashmir.According to a top police official, the mobile internet services were suspended in the Valley on security grounds in view of the today’s situation in Kashmir.The sources in the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) informed KNS that the authorities have directed them to suspend the internet services. “The services will remain suspended till further orders,” they informed.Medical Superintendent of SMHS told KNS that seven injured students were treated in the hospital, with three each having pellet and stone injuries, while one had shell injury.While Jammu and Kashmir police chief was not available for comments, a police official told KNS that during clashes dozens of cops were injured due to stone pelting from protesting students. (KNS)