Investigate Kashmir killings: Amnesty

SRINAGAR: Amnesty International on Saturday urged India to investigate the recent killings of civilians in Indian Kashmir.

Thousands of troops enforced strict curfew in parts of the region. The valley has been hit by strikes, demonstrations and curfews over the killing of 11 civilians during the last month by Indian police. The paramilitary forces are struggling to control separatist rallies.

“The organisation is calling on Indian authorities to investigate all the killings,” the London-based rights group said in a statement. It added that all security personnel and protesters involved in any form of wrongdoings should be brought to justice. They urged India to avoid excessive use of force while dealing with the demonstrators.

The authorities in Indian Kashmir have already ordered a probe into some of the killings. According to the police, the troops have enforced a strict curfew in parts of the Srinagar, Southern Anantnag and Northern Kupwara towns.

The curfew, however, was briefly lifted in Anantnag on Saturday morning, but its re-imposition occurred after protesters clashed with troops. In Srinagar, the police in accordance with the paramilitary soldiers sealed off neighbourhoods with barbed wire; they also blocked major roads to enforce curfew in some parts of the city, which in fact is the largest in Indian Kashmir.

As a result of a strike call by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), shops and offices in the valley have been closed for six consecutive days.  “The situation will improve if police and paramilitary forces are withdrawn from civilian areas,” APHC chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said at a news conference.

Separately, the Indian army said its troops killed four suspected militants early Saturday along the de facto border with Pakistan.

In May this year, a team from Amnesty International was allowed to visit Indian Kashmir for the first time in two decades. The two members of the rights group had met with separatists, victims as well as politicians.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2010.