Clashes in Indian Kashmir over ‘staged’ killings

AFP

28 05 2010

SRINAGAR, India — Police in Indian Kashmir fired teargas Saturday to disperse thousands of villagers protesting against what they said was the staged killing of three Muslims by the security forces.

Late last month, the military said it had foiled an infiltration bid by killing three militants along the de facto border that divides Kashmir between South Asian rivals India and Pakistan.

But three families in the northern district of Baramulla said the slain men were « innocent » relatives who had gone missing three days before.

On Friday, authorities ordered a probe into the incident and also exhumed the three bodies, which were found to be those of the missing men.

Thousands of villagers Saturday took to the streets of the men’s home village in Baramulla, chanting: « We want freedom » and « Hang the killers. »

Police fired teargas shells and baton-charged the demonstrators. Eyewitnesses said 14 people were hurt in the clashes.

« We had to use force as they wanted to block the main highway, » one police officer said.

The Indian army has ordered an internal inquiry into the killings.

An insurgency against Indian rule has left more than 47,000 people dead in Kashmir since 1989.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 29 Mai 2010.

Publié dans दंगा, émeutes, riots