Around 36 people have been killed and 3,100 wounded, a lot of them by police fire, in the worst outbreak of violence in six years in the disputed territory also claimed by India’s arch rival Pakistan.
Advertisement
About 3,500 people have been hurt, many with eye injuries caused by pellets Indian forces have been firing from a non-lethal weapon. India and Pakistan have fought two wars over control of Kashmir since British colonialists left the Indian subcontinent in 1947.
On Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed that his country would continue extending political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris.
When a senior cabinet minister and government spokesperson in no ambiguous terms tells editors of Srinagar-based dailies to shut, the decision to gag the media amid heightened security restrictions in the Kashmir Valley can not be “local”.
The largest street protests in recent years erupted after Indian troops killed Burhan Wani, a popular 22-year-old rebel leader on July 8, leading to clashes that left 46 people, mostly teens and young men, and a policeman dead.
Since the killing of Burhan, demonstrations have occurred in various parts of the state in which protesters have hurled rocks.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Rajya Sabha refuted the charges of use of excessive force on protesting civilians and stressed that on the contrary, the security forces had been asked to use maximum restraint and the least force.
While mobile telephony, except BSNL, is suspended across Kashmir for the past eight days, the broadband internet services too have been downed across the Valley.
The move came a day after police raided the offices and seized tens of thousands of local newspapers in an attempt to curb news distribution of deadly clashes in the region. The detained workers have since been freed.
Hilal Mir, editor of the Kashmiri newspaper, Kashmir Reader, told Anadolu Agency: “Compared to [the] grotesquery the Indian state and their forces have unleashed here, the media gag is not a big deal”.
After the state government conveyed to the editors of local newspapers through Amitabh Mattoo, Advisor to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, that there was no ban on publication, the editors on Tuesday sought written assurance from the government to resume publication. While most English dailies, have continued to upload news onto their websites, editors and journalists in Srinagar marched late Saturday, carrying placards reading “Stop censorship” and “We want freedom of speech”.
“Curfew will continue in all the 10 districts of Kashmir Valley today as well”, a police official said.
Army opened fire after protesters refused to heed warnings and two women were killed, the spokesman said.
Advertisement
In view of the prevailing situation, the government has extended the summer vacations in schools and colleges upto 24th of this month.
