Professional stoners make their mark

Shaikh Azizur Rahman
The National (UAE)
27 December 09

(One cannot look at the photo or read this story without a question about our local chevra, yes?)

SRINAGAR // Lugging sacks loaded with palm-sized stones, two young men hurried down an alleyway in Srinagar’s Zaina Kadal neighbourhood before slipping through a doorway into a house.

“We have got two bags loaded. All of them will fit nicely in your grip and have jagged edges, as you wanted. You will enjoy hurling them, Champion-bhai,” said one of the young visitors to the 34-year-old man who greeted them inside.

“Champion-bhai”, which roughly translates to brother champion, is renowned for his ability to hit distant targets with stones, hurled during anti-government or anti-police protests in Indian Kashmir.

But Champion-bhai is no ordinary protester. He is one of an elite band of semi-professional demonstrators in Srinigar courted by supporters of a variety of causes and paid for their services in cash or food and clothing, but who are also increasingly coming under the scrutiny of police intelligence.

“Recently, in one Friday action, I threw more than 400 stones and injured half a dozen policemen,” Champion-bhai claimed. “Demonstrators were very happy and two rich-looking men taking part in the agitation gave me 1,200 rupees (Dh95). In the evening someone sent two kilograms of mutton, a pair of jeans and one leather jacket to my home.”

According to a report in a national Hindi-language newspaper, Dainik Jagaran, in August, police in Srinagar have identified a few dozen men as “professional stone throwers” and have placed them under surveillance.

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