One dead as troops open fire at protestors

SRINAGAR: One demonstrator was killed and five injured on Sunday in Kashmir when Indian troops fired bullets to disperse violent protests over the death of a Muslim youth, police and witnesses said.

Rafiq Bangroo died on Saturday, days after being injured in the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar in what his family allege was a beating by paramilitary forces.

Enraged by Bangroo’s death – the second in less than ten days of a civilian allegedly at the hands of security forces – hundreds of Kashmiris took to the streets on Sunday chanting: “We will spill blood for blood.”

Protesters attacked a paramilitary bunker, prompting the soldiers to open fire that left one person dead, police said.

“The firing incident has brought more people out on the streets and they are fighting with police and paramilitary forces,” resident Tanveer Ahmed said.

Authorities immediately imposed a curfew in parts of Srinagar and deployed hundreds of police and paramilitary troops to prevent further protests, police and witnesses said.

However, hundreds of mourners carrying the coffin of Javid Ahmad Malla, killed on Sunday defied the restrictions. Police made several attempts to stop them by firing warning shots and lobbing teargas shells.

Srinagar was already tense after the death of a teenager student on June 11 during clashes between police and anti-India demonstrators. His family said he was hit by a teargas shell and that he was not part of the demonstration.

The Muslim-majority region is in the grip of a 20-year insurgency against rule from New Delhi. The unrest has left more than 47,000 people dead by the official count. Tension have been running high for months after local police accused the military of killing three civilians in April.

The army initially said they had killed three armed rebels but later ordered an inquiry and initiated action against two officers.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2010.