Srinagar:
Kashmir valley is once again on the boil after the death of a 16-year-old-boy in police firing.
The separatists had called a one day strike to protest the killing, but the Valley has been shut for 5 days. More than hundred people, including 40 policemen, have been injured in clashes between police and protesters.
An unidentified group of masked youth declared a four-day long strike directly challenging the separatist leadership. "There will be complete shut down for four days," says the masked man.
The protests are spontaneous like the one over Amarnath land row and Shopian. The police are still clueless about the identity of this group and how it could manage to enforce a strike in all the 10 districts of Kashmir.
While the state government smells a conspiracy behind the fresh trouble, the Opposition accuses it of mishandling the situation.
"Some people don't want normalcy, they don't want Jammu and Kashmir to progress. These people don't want an end to bloodshed,'' says the Jammu and Kashmir Law Minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar.
"Every nook and corner is barricaded. There is stone pelting everywhere. No one has control over anything," says PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.
The killing of the teenager may have sparked off fresh protests in Srinagar, the anger, however, is deep rooted. One year on the hot seat, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is facing crisis after crisis and street protests are becoming more challenging for his government than militancy.