Tuesday’s fatal shootings occurred in the district of Anantnag, about 55 kilometres south of the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar. The deaths take the toll to six in three days and 11 in less than three weeks during an upsurge in violent protests against the killing of Kashmiris by Indian security forces.
“Two teenagers were killed when paramilitary forces opened fire to disperse a violent demonstration,” a police officer said, adding that the third teenager injured in the shooting died on his way to Srinagar’s main hospital. The condition of another injured is critical.
Meanwhile, police has placed more towns under curfew and banned mobile phone text messages in an attempt to dampen protests.
“We have blocked the service on instructions by the police,” Mahesh Shukla, general manager of state-owned telecom department Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, said. “It will be restored only after we are told to do so by the government.”
Indian Kashmir has been wracked by street protests since June 11, when a 17-year-old student died after being hit by a teargas shell fired by police during a demonstration in Srinagar. Since then, seven others have died allegedly at the hands of security forces.
Crowds of young men have taken to the streets chanting “Blood for Blood!” and “Freedom for Kashmir!” and attacking security forces by throwing rocks at them.
To stem the unrest, police extended a curfew in place since Friday in Sopore town, 50 kilometres north of Srinagar, into the neighbouring town of Baramulla and some parts of Srinagar. Police said that protests also spread to the southern towns of Anantnag and Pulwama on Tuesday, resulting in fresh clashes that left ten people injured.
In a separate incident, three Indian soldiers and five suspected militants died during a gunbattle near the de facto border that splits Kashmir between India and Pakistan, the military said.
“The fighting erupted late Monday when a group of militants tried to sneak into (Indian) Kashmir,” army spokesman Vineet Sood said.
India deploys an estimated 500,000 soldiers in Kashmir. Kashmiri separatists and insurgents, who have fought a decades-long battle against India, want independence for the region or for it to join Pakistan.
The chief minister of Kashmir and neighbouring Jammu, Omar Abdullah, appealed for calm and said young people were being “exploited” in the protests by anti-India forces. “My appeal to everyone is to help the government restore law and order as soon as possible,” said the young British-born politician, who came to power last year promising to improve human rights. He regretted the loss of life, while defending the security forces who he said had been asked to exercise restraint but faced daily provocations from people throwing stones and breaking curfew rules.
Separatist leaders in other regions have urged people to observe a general strike for two days from Tuesday, which shut shops, businesses and schools.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2010.
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