Country mourns fallen soldiers amid calls for revenge
Protests continued in cities with demonstrators burning effigies of Pakistani leaders and Maulana Masood Azhar, who founded Jaish-e-mohammed
NEW DELHI: Thousands of mourners across India attended funerals on Saturday for some of the 41 soldiers killed in a suicide bombing in Kashmir as a round-theclock curfew remained in force in part of the restive region.
The paramilitary troops were killed on Thursday as explosives packed in a van ripped through a convoy transporting 2,500 soldiers in Kashmir, the deadliest attack in a 30-year-old armed conflict.
TV stations showed coffins wrapped in Indian flags being carried by thousands of people across their hometowns, after the bodies were flown to New Delhi late on Friday for a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India has accused Pakistan of harbouring the militants behind the attack, which has sparked nationwide outrage and some public calls for war against the nuclear-armed neighbour to avenge the killings.
Two buses of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the 78-vehicle convoy were targeted by the bomber on a key highway in the Pulwama district, just outside the main city of Srinagar.
The Pakistan-based group Jaish-e-mohammed (JEM) claimed responsibility, and the vehicle was driven by a known local militant.
The powerful blast reduced one of the buses to a heap of mangled debris. Pictures showed bodies and body parts strewn all over the highway.
“I feel proud of the martyrdom of my son. I expect the government of India to avenge the killings,” Brish Soreng, father of one of the soldiers, told reporters.
Modi on Saturday said that those behind the attack would be held responsible. India is garnering diplomatic support after the attack and has vowed to “isolate” Pakistan diplomatically in the international community, saying it has “incontrovertible evidence” of Islamabad’s role.
Pakistan has allegations.
Street protests Saturday across rejected the continued on several Indian cities with demonstrators burning effigies of Pakistani leaders and cleric Maulana Masood Azhar, who founded Jaish-e-mohammed.
The shock attack has caused widespread anger across India and a violent backlash against Kashmiris elsewhere in the country.
Mob attacks on Kashmiri students and businessmen have been reported in the northern city of Dehradun, with some fleeing the city.
A curfew remained in place in Kashmir’s Jammu city after mobs on Friday attacked Kashmiri properties, set fire to vehicles and pelted housing complexes with stones, prompting counter-protests in Srinagar.
At least 12 people were injured in the city, local media reported, and Internet access in the area was suspended.
Angry Indian social media users furiously demanded retribution for Thursday’s attack, while several hawkish TV channels called for allout war with Pakistan.
“Revenge is the only word that comes to my Mind,” Modi government minister Babul Supriyo wrote on Twitter.
A meeting of political parties in New Delhi on Saturday extended full support to the government in “fighting terrorism, defending India’s unity and integrity”.