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Fresh violence in Indian Kashmir

There were more clashes between anti-India protestors and police in Indian Kashmir on Saturday after four people were killed when police fired at a crowd. It is latest incident in ongoing violence which has left 55 demonstrators dead over the past two months. Police said they were forced to open fire because they were unable to control crowds of people.

Photo: Reuters
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“There was calm for three days, but yesterday that calm was broken with more killings. Four civilians were killed in three separate incidents in north Kashmir,” Srinagar correspondent Shujaat Bukhari told RFI.

This problem has been lingering on now for 63 years

02:52

Srinagar correspondent Shujaat Bukhari

Salil Sarkar

Teargas, baton charges and on some occasions live ammunition was used to disperse stone-throwing crowds.

Strict curfews were enforced across Srinagar, the capital of Indian Kashmir, following Friday’s deaths. Curfews were also extended to other parts of the region, according to the police.

“There is no strategy to deal with this kind of situation - which is out of control,” says Bukhari. “The state government has badly mishandled the situation in Kashmir over the past two months.”

Protests against New-Delhi’s rule have intensified as Kashmiris seek to force the government to pull-out soldiers from the disputed region.

Worshippers raise arms while shouting anti-India slogans inside Kashmir's Jamia Masjid mosque before an anti-India protest march in Srinagar. 13 August.
Worshippers raise arms while shouting anti-India slogans inside Kashmir's Jamia Masjid mosque before an anti-India protest march in Srinagar. 13 August. Photo: Reuters

“Except by using force, there seems to be no other mechanism to deal with the situation,” says Bukhari.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave a televised address earlier this week in an effort to ease tension.

“He talked about unemployment, economic packages, and all that, which people rejected,” says Bukhari. “They say that it is a political problem and has nothing to do with the economy.”

Sunday marks what Indian-Kashmiri separatists see as a “black day”, when India was partitioned in the 1947 Indian Independence Act.

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