Slain Iran officer’s photo removed, Budgam protests

Srinagar, February 15

Protests erupted in Kashmir on Tuesday after soldiers entered a house and allegedly burnt a photo of Iran’s slain military officer Qasem Soleimani.

Soldiers of Army’s 2 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) entered a residential house of Ghulam Rasool Banka at Malbuchan village in Budgam district and removed Soleimani’s photo. They later “burnt” it, triggering protests and stone-pelting in the Shiite dominated area of Budgam, locals said.

After a few hours, an Army officer of the 2 RR, along with local tehsildar, visited the house, apologised to the protesters and re-installed the photo of Soleimani.

A police statement read Malbuchan villagers held a protest at Magam main chowk alleging that a team of security forces misbehaved with locals. Senior police and civil officers talked to the locals and the situation is under control, the police said.

Soleimani is a revered figure among the Shiite community across the world. On January 3, 2020, Soleimani, 62, along with six other officers was killed by the US in a drone attack. —