SRINAGAR: Indian troops martyred at least 17 people and injured more than 100 in cordon and search operations in Held Kashmir’s Islamabad and Shopian districts on Sunday, triggering a new round of anti-India protests and clashes, according to the Kashmir Media Service.
A total of 13 freedom fighters and three Indian soldiers died in several clashes south of Srinagar. Four civilians were also killed and dozens injured when police opened fire on thousands of demonstrators who poured onto the streets, throwing stones and chanting slogans against Indian occupation.
Director General of Police SP Vaid said in a statement that 13 gunmen were killed in two gunfights with Indian forces in southern districts. Seven of the martyrs were killed in Dragad and four in Kachdoora areas of Shopian district. Two civilians, identified as Jan Mohammad Lone and Zubair Ahmad Butt, succumbed to their injuries in hospital. Lone was a resident of Braipora, Shopian, while Butt belonged to Gopalpora, Kulgam. Forces also killed a youth identified as Rouf Bashir Khanday in an overnight operation at Dialgam in Islamabad district.
The gunbattle in southern Kashmir began overnight after government forces raided two villages following a tip that gunmen were hiding there, police claimed.
Police officials claimed the fighters tried to escape from a security cordon while firing their guns and grenades but were killed in the ensuing fighting.
A special police officer (SPO) was killed after fired upon by suspected militants near Muran Chowk area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, GNS reported. Ashraf, a former militant, was working as an SPO in Cargo, Srinagar. He suffered serious bullet wounds and was shifted to the nearby district hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.SSP Pulwama Aslam Choudary confirmed the incident.
At least three Indian Security Force (ISF) officials were also killed in the ongoing clashes, besides injuries to seven others.
As the fighting raged, anti-India protests erupted in several villages in southern Kashmir in solidarity with the fighters. Many protesters also tried to march to the gunbattle sites to help the trapped gunmen escape, leading to clashes between rock-throwing residents and government forces who fired shotgun pellets and tear gas.
According to hospital officials and police, at least three civilians were killed and another 100 injured in the ongoing clashes. Reports said the ISF used pellets and chemical weapons on the protesters. Internet services were suspended in the whole region and the ISF was reportedly hindering movement of ambulance to the hospitals.
District Hospital Shopian Medical Superintendent Dr Shafat informed media that they received around 100injured. Many of them were shifted to Srinagar hospitals for further treatment. “We are unable to maintain the record of the injured because of the heavy rush,” he said.
Following the brutal operation, the people in valley called for a two-day shutdown across the territory. Call for the strike was given by the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik.
Meanwhile, scores of students of Kashmir University (KU) staged a protest demonstration at Zakura Campus in Srinagar against the killings in Shopian and Islamabad. Shouting pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans, the protesting students carried banners reading ‘End Occupation, Free Kashmir’.
Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Faisal took to Twitter to condemn the killing of the youth. “Continuing Indian massacre of innocent Kashmiris makes a mockery of the Human Rights Charter,” he said in his tweet.
In recent years, Kashmiris, mainly youths, have displayed open solidarity with anti-India fighters and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations. The anti-India protests and clashes have persisted despite the Indian army chief warning recently that tough action would be taken against stone throwers during counterinsurgency operations.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid al Hussein declared the situation in Indian-held Kashmir as a matter of grave concern at the 37th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. He announced that the UN will be launching a major report on the situation in Kashmir in June 2018 when the UNHRC will hold its next session.
Published in Daily Times, April 2nd 2018.
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