BSF shelling rocks Farooq govt

The controversy over Thursday's mortar shelling, which killed 11 villagers and injured nine in Erin (Bandipora) in Baramulla district, continues to rage.

The incident is said to be unprecedented in the valley's eight-year-old insurgency as 81 mm mortar shells were fired at unarmed villagers by the security forces.

At the centre of the storm is the paramilitary Border Security Force which, according to the villagers, is responsible for the incident.

However, in an attempt to shift the blame, a senior BSF official told the media that ''the army has been conducting operations in the nearby areas and they fired the shells''. He claimed that one such shell landed in their camp as well.

The army immediately refuted the BSF claim and the defence ministry issued a denial. ''The shells were fired by the militants,'' the ministry said even as state Minister (Internal Security) Ali Mohammad Sagar blamed the security forces for ''taking the situation back to square one''.

To save the situation, the state government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 100,000 each to the next of kin of the victims besides launching a damage-control exercise.

The villagers, however, were unimpressed. They mobbed the state ministers who visited the village, and made it clear that the responsibility for the incident should be fixed before announcing the ex-gratia payment.

Pressure is also mounting on the 11-month-old Farooq Abdullah ministry in the state. The killings caused by the security forces's panic reaction and encounters are alienating the masses from the ruling party, it has been alleged.

It is significant to recall that even in the past such incidents of indiscriminate firing on civilians have marred the peace process.

EARLIER REPORT:
11 Kashmiris dead, 13 injured in BSF shelling