Teenager’s death triggers massive protests in Kashmir

Sixteen-year-old Tehseen Nazeer was crushed to death by an armored police vehicle in Srinagar’s Nowgam, on Monday, January 6

January 09, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch
Teenage death in Kashmir
Family of the deceased Tehseen Nazeer.

On Monday, January 6, 16-year-old Tehseen Nazeer was mowed down in Srinagar’s Nowgam by the police vehicle patrolling in the area. The killing has triggered massive protests and clashes between locals and the police. In May 2018, another teenager was killed in a similar manner in Srinagar’s downtown area after an armored vehicle crushed him to death. Such incidents are common occurrences in the region which is heavily militarized. 

Following the incident on Monday, people hit the streets in anger but were attacked by the police who resorted to heavy tear-gas shelling.

Four civilians were injured in the protests, including 62-year-old Mohammad Yousuf, whose leg was broken by a tear gas canister. He is reportedly being treated at Srinagar’s bone and joint hospital, while the other three have been discharged.

Nazeer Ahmad, Tehseen’s father who works as a peon, said his son was going for tuition classes when he was killed by the police van. “They have taken away my life, they have crushed my eyes. I had never imagined my only son would be killed like this,” a devastated Nazir said.

As per reports, the police went on a rampage in the Nowgam area following the incident. “They killed my son first and then hit my wife…she is not able to even mourn for her dead son,” Nazeer told NewsClick.

While speaking to reporters his mother said the “police hit everyone including women and children while we were on our way to attend my son’s funeral.” Nazeer’s neighbors also complained that the police broke the window panes of their homes as they barged into the locality firing shells. “They do not even allow us to mourn. The police created all the havoc in the area after they committed this heinous crime. The tragedy befell on the entire locality,” a woman living in the vicinity said.