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Pakistan condemns India's 'brutal' use of force against Kashmiris

Protesters burn Indian flag in Muzaffarabad; two Indian policemen arrested for allegedly killing 16-year-old Kashmiri

Web Desk/afp April 19, 2015

PHOTO: AFP

MUZAFFARABAD: As protests against a crackdown on separatists in Indian Kashmir entered a third day on Sunday, Pakistan condemned the brutal use of force by Indian security forces resulting in the death of two Kashmiri youngsters.

“We condemn the brutal use of force by Indian security forces against peaceful and unarmed protesters, resulting in killing of two Kashmiri young men,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said in a statement.

“Pakistan has expressed its deep concerns at the increase in systematic human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir,” she added.

Police in the Indian sector shot dead a 16-year-old boy on Saturday during a demonstration on the outskirts of its main city Srinagar, as a separatist strike shut down the Himalayan region on a second day of violent clashes.

Read: Police shoot 16-year-old protester dead in Indian Kashmir

Hundreds of people in Azad Kashmir burnt India’s flag and an effigy of its prime minister on Sunday in protest at a crackdown on separatists in the Indian sector of the divided region.

Refugees from Indian-ruled Kashmir rallied under the banner of “Pasban-e-Hurriyat” (Protectors of Freedom) in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir.

Read: Pakistani flag at separatist rallies will not be tolerated: Indian Kashmir CM

Many children also took part, displaying placards reading: “Go India Go back (from Kashmir)” and “Release Kashmiri leaders”.

"The arrest of All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders on false charges is also matter of concern," the spokesperson said.

Aslam said that brutality and coercion will not succeed in suppressing the aspirations and struggle of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.

"Pakistan has repeatedly stressed the need for peaceful resolution of the dispute through meaningful dialogue between the two countries," she added.

Indian Kashmir has been rocked by violent protests for the past week after the brother of a top rebel leader was killed by the army near the town of Tral in the south of the Kashmir valley.

Shops, businesses and schools remained shut on Saturday across several towns in the state in response to a strike led by top separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani against what he called "state terrorism" and "poisonous propaganda" by Indian media.

Authorities have put all top separatist leaders under house arrest to prevent them from leading protests.

On Friday 30, people, mainly police officers, were injured as pro-Pakistan demonstrators in Srinagar set fire to an Indian flag and hurled rocks at them during a protest at the arrest of another separatist leader.

Masarat Alam was detained early Friday, two days after he chanted pro-Pakistan slogans at a peaceful separatist rally.

Read: 14 injured as clashes erupt in Srinagar over Masarat Alam's arrest

Alam rose to prominence in 2010 when he organised a series of mass protests before being detained without charge for four years under controversial public safety legislation.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep across Kashmir, a picturesque Himalayan region.

Although several rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 for independence or merger with Pakistan, street protests have become the main mode of opposition to Indian rule.

Deadly violence has declined steadily during the last decade but armed encounters between separatists and government forces still occur regularly.

Two Indian policemen arrested

Two Indian policemen were arrested on Sunday for alleged involvement in the killing of a 16-year-old boy in the disputed region of Kashmir, police said.

According to the Associated Press, police said in a statement that they arrested two policemen after a preliminary investigation revealed one had ordered the other to fire his rifle at stone-throwing protesters in the northwestern village of Narbal on Saturday "in violation of laid down SOP (standard operating procedure)."

However, locals and rights groups have claim such investigations rarely yield results and are aimed only at calming public anger.

Relatives and witnesses have contested the official story of the boy's death, saying he had been picked up by authorities and was shot on the side of the road while in custody.

COMMENTS (18)

Mirza | 9 years ago | Reply For the past one month Saudi monarchy is bombing the capital city of a sovereign country Yemen and Pakistani army is happy to help them in this aggression. Yet we condemn the killing of a few people in our neighboring countries! Kashmir is not a sovereign country and India is not bombing its capital city without any mercy. We talk about Houti as if they are the foreign aggressors and Saudi are local Yemeni being attacked. What would we say if Israel starts bombing Arab capitals? When are we ever going to be honest and have a sense of proportionality?

faisal | 9 years ago | Reply use of force is condemn-able anywhere but condemnation coming from those who use artillery guns and aircraft against population is a irony. One kid dying in police firing has cause one state on stand still and hit front pages of newspapers.where as in some countries finding missing persons bodies is way of life. India has way to go as far as human rights go, Pakistan has yet to start.

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Amar | 9 years ago | Reply "brutal" ? As against gently tortured and bullet-ridden bodies found in Balochistan and Karachi?

Straight talk | 9 years ago | Reply Pakistan's forces are showering rose petals in Waziristan while they condemn India's brutal use of force in Kashmir.

Shakti | 9 years ago | Reply The use of the word "brutal" by Pakistan is laughable. For nearly 70 years, bullet-ridden and tortured bodies are found by the thousands each year in Balochistan and Karachi and suddenly pretending to be appalled is good comedy.

Hatfield & McCoy | 9 years ago | Reply We should ask them to only use aerial bombing, as all sensitive and humane countries do./s

Pakka Indian | 9 years ago | Reply “We condemn the brutal use of force by Indian security forces against peaceful and unarmed protesters, resulting in killing of two Kashmiri young men,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said in a statement. The "brutal" use of force by Indian security forces seems to be the sense of relativity as understood by this Foreign Office lady who is known - and ridiculed - the world around for her ridiculous statements. If anything, brutality is best represented by the Pakistani army which exterminated 3 million Bangladeshis (Hindus and Muslims) in 1971,besides raping more than half a million women in the erstwhile East Pakistan. Brutality, a characteristic of the Pakistani army's behaviour, can be seen on a daily basis with the current situation in Baluchistan and the frontier province where innocents are massacred by the Pakistani army. Brutality also, again, applies to Pakistan at the manner in which minorities - Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Shias and Ahmedis - are being butchered. Brutality is also evident when the Pakistani army disowns and refuses to take back the corpses of thousands of Pakistani soldiers killed in the Kargil conflict. Brutality is also characterized by the beheading of Indian soldiers at the India-Pakistan borders by Pakistani army personnel. And I am not even referring to the excesses committed by your "religious" extremists who were responsible for the killing of innocent and unarmed civilians - men, women and toddler children - who were killed by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in Mumbai's carnage in 2008. Do you understand now, Tasneem Aslam, what "brutality" means? Well, if you are living in a glass house, don't throw stones at others. And, pleeeeeeassse, don't make a clown of yourself.

observer | 9 years ago | Reply @Blithe: "Really feel for the Kashmiris" I am glad you feel bad for them. All you have to do is provide them citizenship, accommodation and livelihood in Pakistan. But, before you do that for the poor Kashmiris, how about giving citizenship and help migrate the half a million stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh who have been suffering in squalid camps for over 40 years? Problem solved.

Raj - USA | 9 years ago | Reply One 16 year old boy died in this firing. Just an year ago, this same Nawaz Sharif government of Pakistan killed more than 40 innocent and unarmed Pakistani muslims in Lahore's Model Town massacre.

Raju Indian | 9 years ago | Reply Great - now India should request lessons from Pakistani army on how to conduct itself without 'brutality". While even one life lost is too many, the Pakistanis will do well to check the number of unknown Shias, Balochs and similar have been buried without news or mention. At least India is trying to keep it public and even prosecute errant policemen.

Neo | 9 years ago | Reply Did same paksitan ever condemned killing of shia's and minorities in all over pakistan, or killing of Muslims in abbu country's xianging province ? these time pass comments from paksitan have no values..

ahmed wani | 9 years ago | Reply lol....lol..lol.....pakistan talking about human rights....funny

Babloo | 9 years ago | Reply Ahmar Mustikhan writing in Daily "There are striking similarities between Kashmir and Balochistan, where people have arisen against Islamabad in armed uprisings five times during the last nearly seven decades of Pakistani occupation since March 1948. Monday, April 13, almost similar things happened on exactly the same day in Balochistan and Kashmir. Arrests of the separatist Kashmiri leaders came just hours before Hurriyat's planned march to Tral area of Pulwama district where the two youths had been killed in an alleged army operation. "Locals have alleged the two were killed in a staged encounter, while the army insisted they were militants shot down in a gun-battle," DNA reported. The same day in Gebun, in Kech district of coastal Mekran division in Balochistan, Pakistan security forces too killed at least five people in, what the Pakistani men in uniform, described as hours of pitched battle with Baloch Liberation Front, which is led by gold medal-winning medic Dr Allah Nazar. Pakistan security forces claimed killing 13 BLF militants in the armed clashes. However, the truth was one of the victims was a wheelchair bound handicapped man, who was dragged out of his home and killed execution style, while the other four were victims of Pakistan ongoing policy of enforced disappearances and were already in custody of Pakistan's intelligence and security services in torture chambers that dot the length and breadth of Balochistan's landscape. As tragic and dismal the situation in Jammu and Kashmir may look at this point, the reason why Kashmiris may thank the Ashoka Chakra is the avenue for popular protests that still exists in Kashmir. However, in Balochistan no such march to Gebun is possible because of the military's draconian and deadly way of handling popular protests. A Baloch leader raising slogan in favour of India like Bhat did two days ago is unimaginable," http://www.dailyo.in/politics/balochistan-kashmir-pakistan-india-syed-ali-shah-geelani-masarat-alam/story/1/3245.html

Khurram | 9 years ago | Reply We have a lot more to worry and take care of our own mess than being unnecessarily wasting our energies on a lost cause.

jun | 9 years ago | Reply where are our arab brothers even now?Why can't they not condemn this brutality against unarmed civilians?what is this bollywood show of arresting the policemen?What has come out of previous killings,anybody got jail term?Make the whole world fool,India,greatest democracy ke thekedar.Why can't they even have a referendum,independence or no-independence?I tried to post some comments in Indian news sites condemning this killing,without use of any abusive language,or threat,only 2 got posted,the rest not approved,and most deleted afterwards.This is their free speech.I have lived in Indian Kashmir for few months with my strong foreign passport of West.Of course,they dare not touch me.But the daily harassments of the locals,rapes by Indian army,almost none get reported because of shame,and harrasments,life is terrible.Only Srinagar has something which we may life-bearable to a limited extend.That was back in the early 80's.But things are worse now,I heard from friends.The Indian army is worst.In ordinary cities like Dehli,rape is common,so one can imagine what is happening in valleys where there is no camera,or law.this undisciplined-rapist-army,no fear of God can do whatever they want.Kashmiris in Pakistan should be thankful for Tuta-puta Pakistan,far better than Indian occupied Kashmir

Blithe | 9 years ago | Reply Really feel for the Kashmiris ! It's time to implement the UN Resolutions !!!

Siraj Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply A poor country like Pakistan should stop poking nose into another country's internal affairs. Worry about our own internal affairs. Why don't wee talk about muslims being killed by Chinese Govt?

Aijaz | 9 years ago | Reply I wish these people could rather spend time thinking about their furture than indulging in futile marches. Misplaced priorities?

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