Indian police shot dead two protesters in Kashmir yesterday as crowds defied a strict curfew to pelt security forces with stones in the latest unrest to flare in the disputed Himalayan region.
Pakistan accused its arch rival of “brutality” over its crackdown on demonstrators who have staged three months of protests clamoring for an end to Indian rule in Kashmir, a territory claimed by both nuclear-armed neighbors.
A total of 96 people have been shot dead since the protests erupted in June, according to an AFP tally, with 17 killed on Monday in the worst violence in the disputed Muslim-majority region in years.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Police said at least two people had been killed and 16 injured yesterday after police opened fire in four places.
Another seven were injured late on Thursday in the northern troublespot of Sopore town, 50km north of Kashmir’s main town of Srinagar.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who held tense talks with his Indian counterpart in July to try to build trust between the estranged neighbors, condemned India’s actions.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the brutality and the blatant use of force by Indian security forces,” he said.
“Gross and systematic abuse of human rights and Indian repression in Kashmir must end. Pakistan calls upon the government of India to exercise restraint,” he said, describing killings, arrests and detentions as “unacceptable.”
Most clashes have seen masked Kashmiris, some barely teenagers, throw stones at the heavily armed security forces, who have retaliated with tear gas, baton charges and live ammunition.
The mountainous region is held in part by Pakistan and India, but claimed in full by both, and has been the cause of two of the three wars the countries have fought since independence from Britain more than half a century ago.
A strict curfew has been in place since Sunday in most parts of Kashmir, leading to complaints of collective punishment from locals who have been confined to their homes and are running low on food and medicine.
The central and local government faces increasing criticism over its handling of the escalating crisis, with authorities struggling to find solutions to defuse the tension.
The region’s top separatist on Thursday called for protesters to block police and army camps with sit-ins, posing a new challenge to security forces as they struggle to restore order.
Syed Ali Geelani, 81, called for locals to assemble peacefully in front of security force camps on Tuesday next week, which drew a furious reaction from the army.
Across the region, Kashmiris are becoming increasingly vocal in their complaints about shortages as the curfew stretches into a sixth day.
“The valley has been turned into a prison and martial law-like restrictions imposed to suppress the aspirations of Kashmiris,” Geelani said.
All neighborhoods in Srinagar have been sealed with barbed wire and iron gates as armed security forces with rifles and batons ensure no one crosses them or makes an attempt to defy the curfew.
Ghulam Rasool Wani, a retired university employee, has been struggling to shift his wife, a diabetic, to hospital.
“For the last three days we have tried in vain to get my wife to a hospital, but every time we move out we are asked to show a curfew pass,” white-bearded Wani told reporters in Srinagar.
“When we ask them where we could get curfew passes they have no answers. I have never seen anything like this before,” he said, adding the family had run short of medicine and food for their three-year-old granddaughter.
Hafizullah Bhat, 58, said his family had started eating plain rice mixed with salt.
“There is still some rice left, but no vegetables, milk, breads and above all medicine,” he said.
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