By Jehangir Ali
Srinagar: A day after violence broke out in a remote village of Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration imposed a sweeping ban on social media posts on Monday (December 29) which are “likely to disturb public order and peace” while warning of action against the offenders.
The Kishtwar police have also filed an first information report over a video of the violence posted on social media on Monday.
In an advisory, the police claimed that an unnamed man who posted the video had tried to give a “communal angle” to the violence “thereby disturbing public peace and order” following which he was booked (FIR No 263/25) under section 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS).
Police have also filed a second FIR (No 262/25) under sections 125 (acts endangering life or personal safety) and 191(2), or punishment for rioting, of the BNS, in connection with the violence on Monday in which some unidentified people suffered minor injuries.
The police action came a day after a Muslim seminary and a mosque were allegedly attacked by unidentified persons in Padyarna Nagesni, a remote village in Kishtwar.
Reports said that the incident took place at around 3 pm on Sunday when a local young man, who could not immediately be identified, was returning to his village with logs of wood that he tried to secure near a mosque in the hilly village.
“The imam of the mosque objected, arguing that the logs could fall on the building. This led to an argument. The youngster later returned to his area following which some members of the Hindu community arrived in the area and the two sides clashed,” a local said, wishing to stay anonymous.
In its advisory, the Kishtwar police said that the members of “one community were bringing wooden logs from jungle and one log slipped and stopped near madrassa due to which an altercation arose between two communities”.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
