Baba Umar
Srinagar, Sept 21, 2010
Rising Kashmir
The members of the all-party delegation from New Delhi couldn’t spot anti-India graffiti ‘Go India Go’ on Monday, which the authorities managed to hide with a whitewash on the walls and speed breakers right from the airport to SK International Convention Centre (SKICC), patients and attendants at the city’s SMHS hospital, however, made it sure that the lawmakers don’t miss the newly-coined slogans.
At least 11 lawmakers led by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury and another CPI leader in Lok Sabha, Gurudas Des Gupta had to cut short their visit when patients and attendants in SMHS raised pro-freedom and anti-India slogans at Ward no 16 A.
According to sources, the leaders could meet only two injured in the hospital when a mother of an injured boy stopped Sushma Swaraj from keeping her hand on the boy’s head.
“The BJP leader tried again but the angry attendant didn’t allow her,” hospital sources witness to the happening told Rising Kashmir.
The visit of the delegation members was kept out of bounds for the journalists and media crews, as a large number of police and paramilitary CRPF deployed around the hospital and adjoining localities, enforced severe restrictions.
Hospital sources said that as soon as the lawmakers tried to visit another patient on the adjacent bed, a patient of Sopore in North Kashmir, who is under treatment for bullet injuries in another ward, rushed to say the BJP leader that “India has only two options left. Give us freedom or kill all of us.”
Sources said within minutes dozens of attendants and patients gathered to raise ‘Go India Go Back’ and pro-freedom slogans forcing the visiting lawmakers to cut short their visit to mere 12 minutes.
Earlier members of the all-party delegation were also planned to visit the Bone and Joint Hospital (B&J) at Barzulla where Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Mehraj Ahmad Kakroo, SSP Security, Kifayat Haider, SSP CID, Javed Riyaz Bedar, SP South Srinagar, Irshad Ahmad, GMC Principal Dr Shahida Mir besides several other officials and a huge contingent of troops and police were waiting for the lawmakers’ arrival.
However, an attendant identified as Mehmooda of Humhama whose kin is under treatment at the hospital raised slogans in favour of Azadi (Freedom). She was soon joined by many attendants and patients who protested the scheduled visit of APD members and demanded freedom for Kashmir.
Fearing trouble, authorities decided to reschedule the visit to SHMS hospital and SKIMS hospital.
Swaraj and Yechury were also scheduled to visit the injured at the SKIMS hospital at Soura but the visit had to be cancelled after local authorities feared a repeat of B&J and SMHS incident.
To mention almost 40 lawmakers from Delhi are in Srinagar to assess the ground situation and help end the current unrest in which almost 108 people have been killed and over 1600 injured, mostly in JK police and paramilitary CRPF firing and beatings.
