Two dead as thousands defy curfew in Indian Kashmir

AFP

1 08 2010

SRINAGAR, India — Two young men were killed Sunday after security forces opened fire at thousands of protesters who defied a curfew in Indian Kashmir, police said, as popular unrest continues to roil the region.

The deaths took to eight the number of protesters killed by Indian troops in three days of street clashes in Muslim-majority Kashmir, police said.

The latest casualties mark the deadliest phase in the Himalayan territory since June 11, when turmoil erupted after a 17-year-old student was killed by a police tear-gas shell.

The latest deaths took place in Pampore town, about 13 kilometres (eight miles) south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.

« Two protesters were killed and three others injured when security forces opened fire at thousands of violent protesters in Pampore, » said a police officer who did not want to be named.

Security forces opened fire with rifles when thousands of residents in Pampore defied a strict curfew, blocked the region’s main highway and attacked security personnel.

« Security forces opened fire after tear gas and a baton charge had no impact on the rioting crowd, » the officer said.

Residents said they were holding a peaceful protest against Indian rule when security troops fired on them.

The shooting brought even more people out on to the streets. They attacked police with rocks and sticks, witnesses said, and set fire to three government buildings and two vehicles.

They carried the two bodies through the streets of Pampore, chanting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, witnesses said.

A total of 25 civilians, mostly young men in their teens or early 20s, have died in clashes with Indian security forces in the Muslim-majority Kashmir since June.

Earlier, police and paramilitary troops enforced a strict curfew in Kashmir on Sunday for the second day running.

Riot police were out in large numbers on the streets of Srinagar and other areas that have witnessed a rolling series of violent protests over the past two months.

The violence on Friday and Saturday was focused on the northern district of Baramulla, a traditional hotbed of Muslim separatism in the valley. It spread to south Kashmir on Sunday.

Last week, the Kashmir state government ordered a judicial probe into the recent spate of police shootings. The inquiry will be led by two retired judges and has been tasked with submitting a report within three months.

A 20-year insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The latest unrest is the worst in two years.

2 dead in clashes despite curfew in Indian Kashmir

AP

31 07 2010

SRINAGAR, India — Violence continued to rage across Indian Kashmir on Saturday with two people shot dead and five wounded after police in two towns opened fire on protesters who attacked their camps and pelted them with rocks.

An indefinite curfew was ordered a day after four people were killed and another 80 wounded as government forces fired on thousands of protesters across the troubled region.

The recent tension in the Himalayan region — divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both — is reminiscent of the late 1980s, when protests against New Delhi’s rule sparked an armed conflict. More than 68,000 people have been killed, mostly civilians, in the conflict.

The mostly Muslim region, where resistance to rule by predominantly Hindu India is strong, has spent most of the past six weeks under curfew following violent street demonstrations by Kashmiri Muslims and strikes ordered by separatist groups.

Six deaths in two days raised the number of people killed in clashes to 23 in the past six weeks.

Thousands defied the curfew Saturday to protest, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. At least 10 people were wounded, he said.

Demonstrators attacked a police camp in Naidkhai, a village 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the main city Srinagar, and officers responded with gunfire, killing one and wounding another three, the officer said.

Another person was killed and two were wounded when government forces fired on hundreds of rock-throwing protesters in Baramulla, a town north of Srinagar, the police officer said.

Protesters chanting pro-independence slogans set fire to two vehicles of the Indian air force in Pampore, a town on the outskirts of Srinagar, the officer said.

Government forces rescued more than 35 air force personnel from the vehicles amid clashes with the demonstrators that left 10 police and eight protesters injured, the officer said.

Elsewhere, angry villagers set a railroad station and two vehicles on fire on the outskirts of Sopore, a town northwest of Srinagar. Two people were killed there by paramilitary soldiers’ gunfire Friday, the officer said.

Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear patrolled Kashmir’s towns, warning residents to stay indoors.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over control of Kashmir since 1947. Both claim the region in entirety.

Separatist politicians and militants reject Indian sovereignty over Kashmir and want to carve out a separate homeland or merge with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

Two killed in clashes as thousands defy curfew in Indian

earthtimes.org

1 08 2010

New Delhi – Thousands defied a curfew in India-administered Kashmir Sunday to take part in protests which saw fresh clashes with security forces, and at least two civilians killed.

The latest deaths brings to eight the number of people killed in protests and clashes across the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley since Friday, despite a security clampdown by authorities.

More than 100 people have been injured in the violence.

Early Sunday, thousands gathered took part in protests in northern Baramulla, Pampore and the Gaalandar areas.

« Two people were killed during the protests in Pampore near state capital Srinagar, » a police official said, claiming that the firing came from the crowd.

Locals meanwhile accused police of having fired indiscriminately. Fifteen people including 13 policemen were wounded in the clashes, mostly hit by stones and rocks by the crowds, police said.

In Gaalandar, hundreds of people attempted to block a main highway during the demonstrations.

The region has been volatile with protestors attacking government property and vehicles. At least two police stations were ransacked and a railway station set ablaze in the violence.

Heavy police and paramilitary forces were deployed in Srinagar and other areas to quell the protests.

In national capital New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened a cabinet meet on security to discuss the situation in Kashmir in wake of the fresh violence.

Unrest has gripped the Himalayan region with angry mobs protesting the killings of at least 25 civilians by troops since June 11.

Strong anti-India sentiment in Kashmir often pits protestors against security forces, who are present in large numbers to control a secessionist movement that peaked in the late 1980s.

India accuses neighbouring Pakistan of aiding Kashmiri militants. Islamabad denies the charge, calling them freedom fighters. The disputed region is divided into parts administered by each nation.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 1 août 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, riots