Deaths as Indian Troops Open Fire on Kashmir Protesters
Srinagar, 05 Syawal 1437/10 July 2016 (MINA) – There were scenes of mayhem in parts of southern Indian-administered Kashmir after Indian forces opened fire on thousands of protesters, killing at least eight civilians and wounding scores of others during a mass funeral for a slain rebel fighter.
Shiv Murari Sahai, a top Indian police official, told a press conference on Saturday that eight people from south Kashmir district were killed during protests, including that of one youth who drowned in a river after being chased by para-military forces.
Tens of thousands of people defied a curfew in parts of Kashmir on Saturday to pay homage to Burwan Wani, the rebel fighter and so-called poster boy of the new Kashmiri resistance, resulting in clashes with police and paramilitary.
Wani was shot dead along with two other fighters by security forces and police in Bumdoora village on Friday, 85 km south of Srinagar, prompting mass mourning across the valley.
According to officials, as news of killing spread across the valley on Saturday, clashes erupted in several districts in southern Kashmir as thousands of residents hurled rocks at Indian troops, who responded by using live ammunition, pellet guns and tear gas.
Street clashes also spread to Srinagar, the capital of the Indian-administered Kashmir, as thousands tried to vent their anger on the streets.
Shams Irfan, a local journalist who traveled to Tral, where authorities had cut electricity, blocked roads and the internet as part of the wider crackdown on protesters, told Al Jazeera that protests in southern Kashmir were “the biggest he had ever seen”.
Earlier, thousands of armed police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear fanned out across most towns and villages. They laid razor wire and erected steel barricades on the streets and drove through neighborhoods, warning residents to stay indoors.
Wani, in his early 20s, had become the iconic face of Kashmiri resistance over the last five years.
As the son of a school principal, he is widely credited for reviving armed resistance in Kashmir, using social media like Facebook to reach out to young Kashmiri men.
Inspector-General Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani described his killing as the “biggest success against militants” in recent years.
Unhappy with the presence of Indian troops
Khurram Parvez, programme director of Jammu Kashmir Coalition for Civil Society (JKCCS) in Srinagar, described Burhan’s death as an extra-judicial killing, saying that Indian government made no attempt to arrest him. He said that Wani was an example of a rebel who had not joined out of ideological reasons.
“He joined because he was humilated on the streets, his brother was tortured, this is where his resentment for the Indian government came from, and this is why Kashmiri’s identified with him.”
“He is being painted as a dreaded militant, but he was often very politically correct [for instance] he spoke about Pandits returning in peace and assured Hindus that their pilgrimage would not be a target by militants,” Parvez said.
Indian officials, fearing that the killing could lead to violent protests in the already troubled region, suspended an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountain cave which draws about half a million people each year.
Officials also suspended cellphone services in southern parts of Kashmir and blocked mobile internet in rest of the region to prevent anti-India demonstrators from mobilizing. Shops, businesses and government offices were shut following the security lockdown and a general strike called by anti-India separatists. Authorities also postponed school and college examinations and suspended rail services.
Reacting to the developments, Parvez, said that despite the curfew, “every death would provoke more people to come out […] resulting in an endless cycle”.
Waheed Parra, leader of the The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) currently in a coalition with BJP party in Kashmir, said the state government wanted immediate peace in the region and called for de-escalation of tensions.
“We’re praying for peace and the safety of our youth.” he told Al Jazeera.
Most people in Kashmir have long resented the Indian presence, and support rebel demands for an independent Kashmir or a merging with Pakistan. More than 68,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the subsequent Indian military crackdown in Indian administered Kashmir. (T/R07/R01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)