NEW DELHI: Indian security forces opened fire on large crowds of Moslem demonstrators in the troubled northern start of Jammu and Kashmir on March I killing at least 46 people and wounding many more according to residents and other reports from the region.
For the eighth consecutive day since a curfew was relaxed in most towns in the Kashmir valley enormous crowds of demonstrators chanting for independence and against Indian rule poured into the streets carrying flags of separatist groups and marched to a United Nations office in Srinagar the state capital where they asked for help in achieving independence.
In two separate incidents, security forces fired at marching demonstrators near Srinagar killing 14 people at one site and 15 at another. Radio Kashmir said. The shootings marked one of the bloodiest days of violence in Kashmir since the long running local campaign for independence from Hindu dominated India erupted into large public demonstrations about two months ago.
Srinagar residents and hospitals workers sympathetic with the uprising said the number of dead was considerably higher than the 32 reported by government controlled radio. They said security forces fired at unarmed demonstrators and had not been provoked by physical confrontation. A government spokesman in Srinagar told news services however that the security forces had fired only when attacked by crowds with stones and bricks.
Foreign journalists have been banned from the region by the Indian government. Residents of Srinagar said the demonstrations in which doctors, nurses and even some government officials took part appeared to be the largest yet. Estimates of the overall size of the crowds ranged from 300,000 to 1 million. There are about 3.3 million in Kashmir valley, a popular tourist destination in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The continuing demonstrations and shootings are certain to raise new questions about the way Indian Prime Minister VP Singh is managing the crisis. After appointing a governor who wields nearly unlimited powers under India’s constitution, Singh’s administration has tried to quiet the separatists through a combination of force and political reform. But the movement appears to be growing.
A clear majority of the demonstrators seek independence for Kashmir an ancient kingdom with a distinct culture, language and tradition. Since the end of British rule on the subcontinent in 1947 the state has been a source of dispute between Hindu India and Moslem Pakistan and the two counties have fought three wars.
Militants shot dead the assistant director of state information department while army men allegedly opened fire at processionists on the outskirts of Srinagar.
P.N. Hando, the assistant director of state information department was gunned down on his way to office. He was declared dead by doctors when he was taken to the hospital.
According to the driver of Handoo’s jeep, a militant, with a gun hidden under his coat, came close to the vehicle and fired three rounds, wounding him.
Another shot was fired at the vehicle a kilometer away, while he was being taken to the hospital. The bullet made a hole in the body of the jeep.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 9, 1990
