Indian police used teargas and gunfire to disperse hundreds of protesters in Kashmir yesterday as the death toll among defiant demonstrators rose to five, officials said.
Officers said they also used batons as protesters broke a curfew and gathered in southern Achabal village a day after four people were killed in police shootings and over 100 injured in clashes as the restrictions were flouted.
One of the injured died in hospital yesterday, doctors said.
“A strict curfew remains in force all over the Kashmir valley,” police officer Pervez Ahmed said in summer capital Srinagar, as New Delhi tried to end the biggest demonstrations since a revolt against New Delhi’s rule by the region’s Muslim majority broke out in 1989.
The latest troubles were triggered by a state government plan made public in June to donate land to a Hindu shrine trust in the Kashmir valley. The decision was later reversed after massive Muslim protests, angering Hindus.
The crackdown prevented a planned rally on Monday by separatists in Srinagar’s historic Red Square.
Meanwhile, troops searched for separatist leaders yesterday, one day after three were detained in a bid to defuse protests. They raided the homes of another dozen leaders as the manhunt began on Monday night, but there have been few new arrests of senior separatists.
More than 600 people have been injured in clashes over the two weeks of protests. The state, whose tourist brochures proclaim Kashmir valley as “paradise on earth”, has suffered more than US$1 billion in lost business.
“We appeal to the people of Kashmir to continue peaceful protests,” a joint statement of Kashmiri separatists said. “We strongly condemned the excessive use of force against the unarmed protesters.”
The crisis has strained relations between India and Pakistan, which both claim the region. It has also raised fears of communal tension in the state, which is split between the Hindu-majority region around Jammu city and the Muslim Kashmir Valley.
Residents say the deaths have also fueled more anger against India and further alienated Kashmiris from New Delhi.
“During three months of violent protests in Jammu police have killed three Hindus, just three Hindus,” said 45-year-old Gausi Khan, a doctor.
“And in just two weeks these people have killed more than 30 people [Muslims]. This simple mathematics tells you India treats us like slaves,” Khan said.
To enforce the curfew in Srinagar authorities say they have poured more Central Reserve Police Force federal police into the region. Most of these police are Hindus who are from outside the state. They have been criticized by Kashmiris for using excessive force, with reports that they have attacked journalists and ambulance drivers.
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