Kashmir is stoning. The stone pelting ‘Kani Jung’ has become prominent in the valley. Stone-pelting or ‘Kani Jung’ is not new to Kashmir. Its origin dates back to the Mughal rule in 16th century. The last independent ruler of Kashmir, Yusuf Shah Chak, was dethroned by Mughals. After Mughals successfully invaded Kashmir, Kashmiris would throw stones at Mughal soldiers. In recent history, stone was an instrument of protest. Stone throwing was involved whenever there was fight between Sheikh Abdullah’s supporters and followers of Mirwaiz Muhammad Yusuf Shah (grandfather of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq), the two arch rival political groups in Srinagar city.
In the past few years’ stone throwing has gained momentum in the valley. The life in the valley is paralysed. The children are most suffered ones in the valley. They can’t go to schools. They are suffering for no fault of theirs. The saddest part is that in these incidents, young children have lost their lives. My heart bleeds whenever I hear the news of deaths of young children.

Varad Sharma “Varenya”
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Lastupdate on : Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST