KASHMIR:INDIAN SECURITY forces shot dead three Muslim separatists in northern, disputed Jammu and Kashmir province yesterday for defying curfew across the region to attend a rally to press their demands for independence. RAHUL BEDIin New Delhi reports.
Tension in the insurgency-ridden Kashmir Valley spiralled as Central Reserve Police Force personnel killed the protesters, including one woman, and injured more than 100 others as they headed for their demonstration planned in the heart of the state's summer capital Srinagar, officials said.
Ahead of the rally, police had detained three separatist leaders from Kashmir's All Party Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference leading the agitation.
"The people of Kashmir were ready to defy the curfew and carry out the march to protest against Indian occupation," a statement from the All Parties Hurriyat said.
Paramilitary and army personnel enforced the curfew in Srinagar by deploying armoured vehicles and piles of barbed wire.
Police also used loudspeakers to urge residents to stay indoors.
The Valley is already paralysed by a strike called by separatist groups who want an end to Indian rule, with shops, banks and schools shut in the tourist season from which the region earns the majority of its revenue.
"It is very tense out here. There are only policemen visible on the streets," said Joginder Singh, a Srinagar resident.
There have been massive rallies across Kashmir in recent weeks in support of independence from India and union with neighbouring Pakistan, between whom the Himalayan province is divided, but claimed by both in entirety.
The security forces have killed at least 35 demonstrators, mostly Muslims, and injured 500 others in these protests that erupted following the granting of 99 acres of land in June to a Hindu religious organisation in India's only Muslim majority province.
The forest land was to be transferred to erect temporary huts and toilets for more than 450,000 Hindu pilgrims who annually trek to a shrine located in a high mountain cave in the Himalayas.
But this decision was withdrawn last month following violent protests by Kashmir's 10 million Muslims, who feared the move would adversely alter the demographic balance in the area, which favours them.
This, in turn, angered Hindus in Jammu, the winter capital of the region, giving rise to fears of communal tension in a state that has largely been kept in check for decades.
Thousands of Hindus took to the streets and blockaded the only road from the plains to the Kashmir valley, causing a shortage in essentials such as food and medicine.
The crisis also led to the resignation of the state's chief minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, on July 7th, after a coalition ally withdrew support over the land transfer issue.
Kashmir's separatist movements had remained mostly peaceful until the outbreak of an Islamic insurgency in 1989 that has claimed more than 65,000 lives. India blames Pakistan for fuelling the violence, a claim it denies.