SRINAGAR/MUZAFFARABAD: At least eight people, including a 16-year old protester, were killed on Monday in Kashmir as clashes and gun battles raged across the disputed region on India’s Independence Day.
The teenage boy was shot dead late Monday following clashes between security forces and protesters in Batmaloo area of the main city Srinagar, hours after two people were killed in a brief shoot-out a few miles away.
“The teenager was brought dead to the hospital. He was hit by a bullet,” Kaiser Ahmad, a doctor at Srinagar’s main hospital told AFP. Separately, doctors at another Srinagar hospital said a young protester died of his injuries on Monday, days after he was hit by a bullet. Fierce clashes between protesters and Indian troops were reported across the Kashmir valley despite the authorities imposing a round-the-clock curfew. Mobile and Internet services were snapped and thousands of armed policemen patrolled the main cities and towns.
Earlier, two people were killed in a shootout, an officer of India’s Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) told AFP. He said nine others were wounded, with three, including two local policemen, in a critical condition. The officer could not immediately confirm the identities of the slain people but said they were “non-locals”, usually a reference to Pakistani nationals.
Authorities have imposed a curfew in large parts of Kashmir since July 9 during an upsurge in violence sparked by the killing of Burhan Wani.
In a separate gunfight on Monday, five people were killed near the Line of Control (LoC) in the northern Uri sector, the area’s police chief said.
Imtiyaz Hussain said the people were spotted by guards after they sneaked over to the Indian-held side of the heavily militarised border.
Separatist groups traditionally order citizens to observe a shutdown on August 15 to protest against Indian rule.
The state’s first woman chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, called on India and Pakistan to make the LoC irrelevant to bring peace in the region. “I appeal to both countries that this line dividing Kashmir should be made irrelevant,” Mufti told a thinly attended gathering at a sports stadium in Srinagar. She blamed the Indian leadership for the current crisis in Kashmir and appealed to protesting youths to return to their schools and colleges.
The main event at the fortified arena was marred by spectators booing the chief minister after the Indian flag fell to the ground as she tried to hoist it, prompting authorities to order a probe to determine if it was the result of an act of sabotage.
Meanwhile, people in Azad Kashmir marked India’s Independence Day as a ‘black day’ to protest against the illegal occupation and register their deep concerns over the ruthless use of force against the innocent people in Held Kashmir.
In Mirpur, a protest rally was held at the District Courts’ lawn, in which the speakers strongly condemned the ongoing massacre of innocent people in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK). They underlined that more than 75 innocent people had been martyred and over 200 injured by Indian forces in the curfew-clamped valley during the last 27 days.
Over in Muzaffarabad, people from all walks of life, including students and employees, took out rallies that merged into a big public rally. They marched to the local headquarters of the United Nations observers mission with a memorandum, requesting and reminding them of their promises made to Kashmiris, besides urging the world body to ensure early and peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue.
