Clashes after death of second teenager in Srinagar

CNN

From Mukhtar Ahmad

February 5, 2010 –

Srinagar, India (CNN) — There were new clashes between anti-India protesters and Indian security forces here Friday after another schoolboy was killed, allegedly by security forces.

The main part of Srinagar remains under curfew-like conditions. Since early Thursday security forces have flooded the streets, most businesses have remained closed, and residents have stayed inside their homes.

As news spread Friday about the death of 17-year-old Vahid Farooq Sheikh in a Srinagar suburb, angry mobs staged anti-India demonstrations.

Clashes continued as the body of the youth was brought to his home from the hospital where he had been taken in critical condition. Doctors said he had been hit in the chest by a bullet and died.

Police responded to the crowds with tear gas and baton charges to disburse the protesters shouting pro-freedom slogans.

While the family of the teen alleged he was shot by Indian security forces from a passing vehicle, police said the boy died from what they called mysterious fire.

The state’s chief minister, Omar Abdullah, ordered a high-level inquiry to expose the culprits, an official statement said.

The capital city and other parts of Kashmir continued to be shut down for a second day in protest against the killing of another schoolboy last Sunday. That incident unleashed a wave of violent protests that have continued for the past five days.

The 13-year-old boy, Whamiq Farooq Wani, was hit in the head by a tear gas shell and killed as he played cricket in a stadium in the old city, his family said.

The police officer who fired the shell has been suspended and an inquiry was ordered, according to police.

Meanwhile, what was described by authorities as a hit-and-run strike in the northern Kashmir town of Sopore left a police officer and civilian dead and two others wounded, according to a police spokesman.

Authorities said militants fired indiscriminately with automatic weapons, then made their escape.

Security forces in Indian administered Kashmir remain in almost constant clashes with militants and separatists who want independence for Kashmir, portions of which are claimed by India and Pakistan.

Thousands protest boys’ killing in Indian Kashmir

AFP

5 fév 2010

SRINAGAR, India — Thousands of demonstrators shouting « blood for blood » and « we want freedom » protested in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir Saturday against the killing of a second teenage boy in a week.

Witnesses said 17-year-old Zahid Farooq was killed Friday when security forces opened fire after a group of boys refused to leave a high-security area.

Police in the Muslim-majority region where a revolt against Indian rule began two decades ago said they were investigating the death.

Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah vowed strong action over the boy’s death.

« Incidents of unprovoked or innocent killings will not be tolerated and whosoever is involved in such killings will be brought to book and doled out exemplary punishment, » Abdullah said in a statement.

But Abdullah’s promise failed to placate residents of Brein, the suburb of state summer capital Srinagar where the killing took place.

Thousands of men, women and children took to the streets, shouting pro-freedom and pro-Islamic slogans.

The region was already in an uproar over the killing of 14-year-old Wamiq Farooq by a police tear-gas shell last Sunday and the latest death has fuelled anger against Indian security forces.

The government has banned the assembly of more than four people in Srinagar but it has been unable to contain the protests.

Indian troops have also sealed off neighbourhoods in Srinagar and arrested dozens of activists in a bid to calm rising tensions.

About 150 protesters and policemen have been injured in clashes since Wamiq Farooq’s death and troops tried to enforce a lockdown for a third day in most parts of Srinagar.

Senior separatist leaders were either jailed or confined to their homes as shops and businesses in Srinagar were closed and public transport stayed off the roads for a sixth day.

Teenager dies as protests rock Indian Kashmir

The Associated Press

Friday, Feb. 05, 2010

SRINAGAR, India — Police were investigating the reported shooting death of a teenager in the capital of Indian Kashmir on Friday, an officer said, an incident that threatens to enflame protests that have rocked the city this week following the death of another boy.

Mushtaq Ahmed, a witness, said paramilitary soldiers charged at a group gathered in a playground in Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir, and began firing as they fled, killing his friend Zahid Farooq Shah, 17.

Police official Hemant Lohia confirmed the death of Shah and said police were investigating.

« It’s an unfortunate incident. We’re gathering information from the area to know what exactly happened, » Lohia said.

The government has banned the assembly of more than four people in Srinagar in an attempt to suppress protests which broke out after another teenage boy was killed when he was hit by a police tear gas shell Sunday.

Elsewhere in the city on Friday, angry mobs hurled rocks at police who fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse them.

At least 80 protesters have been arrested in Srinagar over the past two days, said Sajad Ahmed, a police officer.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. Separatists, including armed rebels, seek Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with neighboring Pakistan.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 6 février 2010.

Publié dans दंगा, émeutes, riots