Kashmir was on the boil in August 2008. Protests had erupted over the transfer of 99 acres of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board, whi...
Kashmir was on the boil in August 2008. Protests had erupted over the transfer of 99 acres of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board, which managed a popular Hindu pilgrimage site in the Valley. In response, groups in Jammu had blocked the highway to Kashmir, choking off supplies to the region.
To protest the economic blockade, on August 11, over two lakh people marched through North Kashmir’s Baramulla district towards the Line of Control with Pakistan. The security forces opened fire on them, killing five protesters, including a leader of the Hurriyat Conference, Sheikh Abdul Aziz.
As the news came in, Latief U Zaman Deva, the district magistrate of Kulgam in South Kashmir, summoned local officers from security agencies like the army and the police. He told them curfew was being imposed in Kulgam, much like the rest of Kashmir, “but with the direction that you will not use force in case it is breached”.
Deva, who hailed from neighbouring Anantnag district, understood the need to handle the situation carefully. He decided not to forcibly restrict people from protesting peacefully against Aziz’s killing the next day. “I allowed people to take out processions, assemble in Jamia Masjid Kulgam, deliver speeches, etc,” he recalled....
