Kashmir erupts into protests
SRINAGAR, India: More than a dozen protests erupted across Kashmir yesterday, with government forces firing teargas and demonstrators hurling rocks as tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets of the disputed Himalayan region after soldiers killed four civilians and two suspected militants.
The overnight shooting at a military checkpoint threatened to spark even more unrest in a region that in recent years has seen renewed rebel attacks and repeated public protests against Indian rule.
The authorities had put parts of the densely militarised region under lockdown after the Sunday night shooting, deploying soldiers and riot police, shutting schools and the internet service and ordering people off the streets in places in an attempt to derail protests.
But widespread anger, along with funerals for the six killed and separatist calls for a business shutdown, helped ignite angry demonstrations, with thousands shouting slogans against India’s army and demanding the end of New Delhi’s rule over Kashmir.
Many protests centred around the town of Shopian, where the shooting occurred, an outwardly bucolic region of mountain forests and apple orchards.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The trouble began late on Sunday night, when officials say a car refused to stop at a checkpoint outside a Shopian military base and militants inside fired at the soldiers.
Indian army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said a rebel and three civilians were killed when soldiers fired back. One rifle was recovered from the site. A fourth civilian’s body was recovered from a nearby car, officials said, and the body of another rebel was found a few kilometres away. Authorities said he had been injured in the shooting and died later.
Kalia called the slain civilians “overground workers”, a term that Indian security forces use for people who give support to the rebels.
Police, though, were careful not to use that term, calling them simply “young men” and saying they were investigating the incident.
But across the region, most people believed all were killed in cold blood. The soldiers “shoot even at shadows, and they’re employing every tactic to suppress people”, said Bashir Ahmed, a Shopian resident.
Separatists challenging Indian sovereignty over Kashmir called for a strike after the shooting, and shops and businesses shut across the region.
Authorities cut cellphone internet services in the most restive towns, and reduced connection speeds in other parts of the Kashmir Valley, a common government practice to calm tensions and prevent anti-India demonstrations from being organised.
Officials also ordered schools closed and suspended rail services in the region.
In January, anti-India protests erupted across Kashmir after army soldiers shot and killed three civilians during clashes in the same area.
Indian troops are covered by controversial powers that shield them from prosecution while serving in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, army and paramilitary officers can search homes and make arrests without warrants, shoot at people suspected of being separatists and blow up buildings or homes on suspicion that insurgents are using them.
Rights activists accuse Indian troops in Kashmir of misusing their power, killing civilians in staged confrontations for promotions or rewards and to suppress public sentiment against Indian rule.
Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India with both nations claiming the entire region. Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989, demanding Kashmir become part of Pakistan or an independent country. Nearly 70 000 people have been killed in the uprising and ensuing Indian military crackdown.