Stone Tools In Modern History

There is now a problem bigger than militants on India’s hands: protests beyond the separatists’ control

- Naseer Ganai

Broken bricks and stones strewn outside the main gate of Government Degree College in Pulwama are what remain of April 15—the day when the college witnessed a pitched battle between the students and government forces. And on April 17, students across the Valley took to the streets in solidarity with the Pulwama students— the slogans raised were mostly pro-azadi, with some pro-Pakistan ones thrown in—forcing the PDP-BJP state government to order the closing down of all educational institutions. All in all, it capped a season of unrest that saw practically the entire landscape rise up in protest, prompting many to ask: what next in Kashmir?

In Pulwama, according to students, it started with the police and paramilitary forces cordoning off and entering the campus, aided by intense teargas and PAVA shelling. (PAVA is pelargonic acid vanillyl amide, also called nonivamide and is extracted from chilli pepper. It severely irritates the eyes and the respiratory tract, affecting breathing temporarily. In just six months of 2016, more than 1.60lakh teargas shells and PAVA grenades were used to quell protests.) Showing some used teargas shells they claim to have picked up from various spots on the campus, students say the forces raided the college to “avenge” the defiance shown by them three days earlier (April 12) when they had pelted stones at an Indian army vehicle while it was entering the campus. According to Prof Abdul Hameed, the principal who has been removed from his post since, the students saw the army vehicle’s entry as the beginning of a raid and hurled stones at it.