Kashmir tensions intensify

SRIN AG A R , INDI A » Tensions have soared along the volatile, highly militarized frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, as India has deployed more troops and ordered thousands of visitors out of the region.

Indian firing Sunday along the Line of Control that separates Kashmir between the archrivals wounded a woman and the ongoing skirmishes spread fear in border villages, Pakistani police said. The frontier residents on the Pakistani side are either moving out to safer places or have begun construction of new bunkers, with some strengthening existing shelters near their homes.

Pakistan and India — both claim Kashmir in its entirety — routinely blame each other for initiating border skirmishes. The latest come amid the Indian government’s evacuation order of tourists and Hindu pilgrims and a buildup of troops in its part of the region.

The measures have sparked fears in Kashmir that New Delhi is planning to scrap an Indian constitutional provision that forbids Indians from outside the region from buying land in the Muslim-majority territory. In recent days, Hindu-majority India has deployed at least 10,000 troops in Kashmir, with media reports of a further 25,000 ordered to one of the world’s most militarized regions.

Thousands of additional Indian soldiers on Sunday began camping in police stations and government buildings in several areas of the region.

Authorities imposed an indefinite security lockdown around midnight as government forces tried to cut off neighborhoods in Srinagar, the main city of the region.

“As per the order there shall be no movement of public and all educational institutions shall also remain closed,” the statement said.