Detained for anti-Israel protest, 17 released

Srinagar, May 16

The police on Sunday released 17 youths, including an artist, a day after they were detained for holding an anti-Israel protest here during the Covid lockdown.

Artist Mudasir Gul, who had painted pro-Palestine graffiti, was among 20 people detained by the police on Saturday in the city's Padshahi Bagh area. “Seventeen boys were handed over to families after counselling. They violated Section 51 of the DM Act by participating in protests during the lockdown,” a police official said.

The official said that engaging the families is important for preventing youngsters from going astray. Gul, 32, had drawn the face of a weeping woman whose head was draped in a Palestinian flag.

The words 'We are Palestine' were written in bold, white letters. “He was released on Sunday evening and has reached his home,” Gul's elder brother Sami-ullah Rather said.

Gul's mother said a few local youths came to their home and asked him to draw a mural. She said his son refused to draw the mural at first, but was convinced by the youths that it was a protest to express solidarity with the people of Palestine only and there would not be anything against India.

On Saturday, police detained Mudasir Gul and made him deface the graffiti before taking him away. “We are happy he has been released,” he said. The arrest of the youths had drawn a sharp reaction from PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and the moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. — PTI

PDP questions arrest

• PDP president Mehbooba Mufti criticised the arrests for holding protests against Israel over the Middle-East conflict during lockdown
• People all over the world are protesting, but it is a punishable offence in Kashmir where an artist has been booked under the PSA, she said.