Indian Kashmir in anniversary lockdown
>> SRINAGAR: Residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir clashed with government forces yesterday as they defied a stringent curfew on the anniversary of the killing of a charismatic rebel leader, whose death triggered open defiance against Indian rule.
Officials and witnesses said residents in at least four places in southern Kashmir tried to march on the streets while chanting slogans in favour of rebels and ending Indian rule. Police and paramilitary soldiers fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.
The protesters responded by hurling rocks at troops. No one was immediately reported injured in the clashes.
While Kashmir has remained on edge, the Indian and Pakistani armies, which regularly trade fire and blame across the de-facto militarised frontier that divides the disputed territory between them, fired at each other’s positions, killing three civilians and an off-duty soldier, officials said.
Pakistan’s military said two civilians were killed and three others wounded in the Indian army’s “unprovoked” firing and shelling at two places along the highly militarised Line of Control.
India’s military said an off-duty army soldier visiting home was killed along with his wife after a shell fired from the Pakistani side hit their home in Poonch sector. Army spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta called it an “unprovoked” violation of the 2003 ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
India has accused Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.
Government forces for the second day sealed off the hometown of the 22-year-old Burhan Wani, who was killed along with two associates in a gun battle with Indian troops last year. Witnesses said security forces ordered residents in southern Tral town to stay indoors.
“I’ve never seen so many soldiers in aggressive posturing enforcing a curfew in my town. This is unprecedented restriction,” resident Mohammed Hanief said by phone.
Troops laid steel barricades and coiled razor wire on roads and intersections to cut off neighbourhoods as authorities anticipated widespread protests. They also shut mobile internet services as part of the lockdown to stop activists from rallying online support.
“We’re enforcing strict restrictions to deal with any law and order issues,” said SP Vaid, the region’s police chief.
Separatist leaders, who challenge India’s sovereignty over Kashmir, called for a strike and protests to honour Wani. Most of the top leaders have either been detained or put under house arrest.
Wani’s killing had set off months of protests and deadly clashes across the region, during which at least 90 people were killed and thousands injured, while hundreds among them were blinded and maimed in the firing of shotgun pellets by government forces.
Wani, who attracted dozens of new recruits while using Facebook and other social media sites, had rejuvenated Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest of Kashmir’s militant groups. Its topmost leader based in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, Syed Salahuddin, was recently designated as the “global terrorist” by the US.