Tens of thousands of people shouting freedom slogans massed yesterday in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir to mourn 22 protesters killed in police firing during huge demonstrations in the mainly Muslim region.
Mourners in cars, buses, jeeps and trucks streamed to Pampore Township, just outside main city Srinagar, to take part in the outpouring of grief and anger. They shouted “We want freedom” and “Kashmir is ours.”
“This is a day we want to protest the slaying of 22 innocent Kashmiris,” said Mohammed Latief, a 32-year-old truck driver.
Police said they would not disrupt the event, at which many of the demonstrators hoisted black flags, a Muslim symbol of mourning.
“Authorities have said no force should be used against peaceful demonstrations,” police chief Kuldeep Khuda said.
Street battles earlier this week left at least 22 dead in police firing and hundreds injured.
Srinagar and other parts of the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley have been rocked by some of the biggest protests since an insurgency against New Delhi’s rule erupted in 1989.
Veteran separatist leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz was among those who died earlier this week and Pampore, where the mourners gathered, was his hometown.
Aziz was a former militant who had renounced violence and joined Indian Kashmir’s political separatist alliance to seek the region’s independence.
“He is our hero — he has laid a fresh foundation for our freedom struggle with his martyrdom,” said Ayub Laway, one of Aziz’s supporters.
The rally in Pampore came a day after India’s Independence Day celebrations when thousands of Muslims in Srinagar protested New Delhi’s rule with some burning the national flag.
Addressing the nation in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it an “hour of crisis” and urged dialogue to resolve the violence in Kashmir, held in part by India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both.
The unrest was triggered by a Kashmir government move in June to donate land to a Hindu shrine trust. The decision was later reversed, angering Hindus who dominate the south of Jammu and Kashmir state.
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