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More Protesters Killed In Kashmir ViolenceIndia Faces Serious Threat to Its Rule of Disputed Himalayan Region
Tensions between the federal government and Muslim majority in the Kashmir Valley have remained high since the awarding of land to a Hindu pilgrimage group in June.
The ninety nine acres of land given by the state government to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board in order to cater for Hindu pilgrims visiting a cave shrine caused nine days of uprisings in Muslim-dominated Kashmir back in June. The death of the prominent separatist leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz on the 11th August at the hands of Indian police, and an economic blockade levied on Kashmir by Hindu nationalists have further damaged fragile communal relations in the region. Widespread Protests Against Indian RuleIn one of the most serious threats to Indian rule in years, approximately thirty people have been killed due to police firing, including fifteen in a recent gunfight near the Line of Control which divides the region between India and Pakistan. Hundreds have also been injured in scuffles with police and paramilitary forces. Journalists were also among those beaten up by the authorities ahead of a planned pro-separatist march which had been planed for Sunday, prompting Reporters Sans Frontièrs to call on the Indian government to halt the intimidation and censorship of the media operating in Kashmir. Trouble has also spread south to the winter capital Jammu, where protests by Hindu nationalists against alleged government pandering to Muslims resulted in police breaking up crowds using tear gas, with an estimated forty people injured. Prominent Separatist Leaders SeizedIn an attempt to stifle further agitation, on Sunday the Indian authorities arrested Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, both prominent leaders of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference, amid a curfew imposed on the Kashmir Valley. Both were arrested after attempting to lead a pro-secession march, and it was reported that another ten separatist leaders were also taken during Sunday night. Another separatist leader, Yasin Malik was taken into custody on Monday. Opinion Polls Show Secessionists Gaining GroundThe Kashmir issue has long been hotly debated in Indian society, and in the midst of one of its most serious flare-ups a series of surveys conducted by the Times of India has revealed an interesting, although slight, change in Indian public opinion. In India’s nine major metropolitan areas, thirty percent of responders said they would be willing to let Kashmir secede from the union if “the economic and human costs were this high”. Although a majority of Indians (fifty nine percent) still believe that Kashmir should stay a part of India regardless of cost, the growing minority willing to consider the idea of Kashmiri independence will worry many in government. In predominantly Hindu Jammu, the view that Kashmir was not worth its economic and military costs was shared by fifty eight percent of responders in another Times of India poll, while only thirty percent believed the region could ever be incorporated into the “Indian mainstream”.
The copyright of the article More Protesters Killed In Kashmir Violence in India is owned by Ross Adkin. Permission to republish More Protesters Killed In Kashmir Violence in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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