22 dead, many hurt in antiindia protests in Kashmir

● Indian troops struggle for control ● Kashmiris take to the streets

Indian authorities are struggling to contain protests by Kashmiris angry after 22 people were killed in weekend demonstrations, as youths defied a curfew to rally in the streets against the killing of a top anti-india rebel leader.

Paramilitary troops and police in riot gear patrolled villages and towns in the Himalayan region. Most shops were shuttered, businesses were closed, and mobile internet services were suspended in parts of the region. But by noon, crowds were ignoring the clampdown to gather in parts of the main city of Srinagar and other locations.

The region erupted in protests on Saturday, a day after Indian troops killed Burhan Wani, the young leader of Kashmir’s largest rebel group, Hizbulmujahideen,whichhas been fighting since the 1990s against Indian rule. Wani, in his early 20s, had become the iconic face of Kashmir’s militancy, using social media to rally supporters and reach out to other youths like him who had grown up amid hundreds of thousands of Indian armed forces deployed across the region.

Police Inspector-general Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani described Wani’s killing as the “biggest success against militants” in recent years.

As news of his death spread, spontaneous protests erupted and crowds of angry youths gathered to throw rocks at

0 Kashmiri Muslims defy curfew to protest about the death of Burhan Wani Indian police and paramilitary soldiers, shouting “Go India, go back!” Police said that some police and paramilitary posts were attacked, and that some homes of pro-india politicians were burned.

At least 21 civilians and one policeman have died from wounds sustained in clashes as law enforcement officers used live ammunition, pellet guns and tear gas to try to break up the protests.

Most of those killed were young men under the age of 26 from southern Kashmir, police said. In addition, more than 150 civilians and 100 government troops have been injured. At least ten of the injured civilians were in serious condition.

Inseveralneighbourhoodsin Srinagar,activistspaintedgraffiti on iron shutters of shops and walls, deploring India and eulogising Wani. Messages that they wrote included “Burhanourhero”and“burhanstill in our hearts.”

Anti-india sentiment is strong throughout India’s portion of Kashmir, a region of 12 million people, about 70 per cent of whom are Muslim.

Both India and Pakistan claim all of Kashmir as their own, while each administers a part of the mountainous region. The sides are divided byamilitarisedlineofcontrol.