Kashmir on edge after CRPF vehicle mows down protester
Srinagar, June 2: Hundreds of slogan-shouting residents on Saturday attended the funeral of a 21-year-old man who along with two others was injured on Friday when a paramilitary vehicle ran over protesters in an already volatile old Srinagar city.
The city remained on edge on Saturday as authorities imposed restriction and snapped mobile internet services amid Ramadan ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir.
The incident and subsequent protests occurred days before Home Minister Rajnath Singh's valley visit next week to review the situation after the Centre's May 16 decision to call a ceasefire during the month of fasting.
Srinagar is already tense after Kaiser Ahmad succumbed to his critical internal injuries in a Srinagar hospital after the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle hit protests in old city neighbourhood of Nowhatta -- a hot-bed of anti-government protests in the valley.
The death of the man triggered more angry protests. Hundreds of people on Saturday marched towards and gathered near a graveyard in Eidgah grounds here to offer a congregational funeral prayer.
Security forces used tear smoke shells to quell the angry mourners who were shouting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans.
Authorities placed chairman of his faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest at his Nigeen residence to prevent his participation in the funeral procession.
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik was also arrested in Srinagar.
Authorities imposed restrictions in old city areas to maintain law and order and mobile Internet services suspended in Srinagar and Budgam districts.
The speed of broadband Internet connections was also been reduced to prevent uploading of provocative posts and pictures.
The death of the Srinagar man triggered sharp criticism from former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, tweeting if the government's "ceasefire means no guns, so use jeeps".
"Earlier they tied people to the fronts of jeeps and paraded them around villages to deter protesters. Now they just drive their jeeps right over protestors. Is this your new SOP," Abdullah said and tagged Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh said the National Conference leader's tweet smacked of "the double standards of Kashmir centric politicians".
"Security forces are soft targets for these politicians but they can't speak against the militants as they can strike back," the BJP MP from Udhampur said.
He said the criticism of security forces who risk their lives protecting the country was "unfortunate".
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India will be world's third top economy by 2027, says Union Minister Piyush Goyal
Chennai, Jan 14: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that by 2027, India will be the world's third-largest economy, ahead of Japan and Germany.
Addressing the annual meeting of Tamil magazine 'Thuglak' here, Goyal said, "What did Mr Modi do in ten years? He took India from the 11th largest GDP to the fifth-largest GDP."
Further, the minister said that the then Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in his interim budget of 2014 had predicted that in the next 3 decades, India's nominal GDP would take the country to the third rank, after US and China.
Chidambaram had predicted in 2014, a 30-year duration for India to become the third-largest GDP, he noted.
"What did Mr Modi do? He said I will do it in less than half that time and I assure you friends, by 2027, India will be the world's third-largest economy, ahead of Japan and Germany; in only 13 years and not 30 (years), that is Prime Minister Modi's commitment and courage of conviction," Goyal asserted.
Also, he said as many as 19 nations have conferred PM Modi the highest civilian honour of their countries. Eight are Muslim majority, 10 are Christian majority and one is a Buddhist majority nation and there could be a no better rebuttal to the false narrative that some people try to spread againt India and PM Modi.
"He is the most inclusive leader with true secularism, does not believe in appeasement politics, who believes in Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas," the union minister said.
