Srinagar, July 20: Evading arrest by police, hundreds of youth have been fleeing their homes since the recent protests broke out following the killings of about 17 youth in the valley. The youth, especially students, have been putting up with one relative or another which is disturbing their normal life.
This follows the valley-wide police crackdown wherein hundreds of youth were arrested on charges of participating in protests and stone throwing, several of whom have been booked under the stringent Public Safety Act.
Residents of the old city Srinagar are the worst victims of this nightmare where night raids have become the order of the day. A posse of policemen raided the house of a teenager Owais (name changed) of Chattabal last night.
“A group of 20-25 policemen broke into our house around 1.00 am. They were searching for my nephew, a Grade 9 student. The policemen broke our doors and went straight to his room. In order to evade arrest, he jumped from the window and fled from the scene. It was like revival of the early 1990s when night searches were being carried out by police,” said his uncle, Ghulam Rasool.
 Several teenagers told Greater Kashmir that they had been out of their homes for past two months. “First it is the state which forced us to protest because our brothers were killed by police and CRPF. Now they raid our houses, police is intimidating our parents. We feel threatened to be at our home because we will be booked under PSA. We have become like wanderers moving from one relative to another,” said a student of Business Administration, wishing anonymity for obvious reasons.
 Javed Ahmad (name changed) has been out of home for past month as police has been searching for him at his house as well as relatives’ places. He says, “Recently my cousin, aged 25 years, was arrested by police in old city. He has been booked under PSA, so my parents felt insecure after his arrest and I am moving from one locality to another.”
 Political analyst Gul Muhammad Wani says that appropriate measures should be taken to contain this repression otherwise dangerous drift can take place. “It needs politico-economic measures because youth are frustrated,” Gul told Greater Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST