Srinagar paralysed by strike as protests continue

[s90]

SRINAGAR: Over a dozen people were hurt on Monday in occupied Kashmir during protests over the alleged rape and murder of two young Muslim women by Indian troops, police and witnesses said.

Police said they were investigating the “mysterious deaths” of the women, aged 17 and 22, whose bodies were found dumped in a shallow stream on Saturday.

Their families said the corpses bore marks of violence and that their clothes were torn. They have accused Indian forces of abducting, raping and subsequently killing them.
Occupied Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ordered a judicial probe on Monday into the deaths. An autopsy report was due in a few days.

“The probe will be conducted by a retired high court judge and the findings will be known within a month,” he told reporters.

But “the initial indication does not suggest either rape or murder,” he said, noting it appeared to be a case of drowning.

A strike was observed on the appeal of Kashmir’s main pro-independence alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, to mourn and protest the deaths, with shops, schools, banks and post offices in Srinagar and other towns all closed, police said.

Police and troops were out in force to prevent more violent protests.

Over 70 people were wounded in weekend clashes between police and angry protesters in Shopian, where the women were from, as well as in Srinagar.

On Monday, more protests erupted in Shopian, located 50km south of Srinagar, and adjoining villages, with riot police using teargas and firing into the air to disperse the crowds.

“Some 15 people, including women, were hurt,” a police officer said. Srinagar was almost totally locked down.

“There is a huge security presence in our locality. It is like curfew. We are not being allowed to move out,” said Srinagar resident Altaf Ahmed.

Monday’s strike call was backed by Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed by India for last year’s Mumbai attacks that killed over 160 people. The group has denied its role in the gun and grenade attacks.

“We urge international human rights groups to take strict note of atrocities taking place against women in Kashmir,” Lashkar spokesman Abdullah Gaznavi told AFP from an undisclosed location.

“Lashkar-e-Taiba and Kashmiri people have resolved to continue struggle against Indian forces and protect the chastity of Kashmiri women,” Mr Gaznavi said in a statement.

Kashmir’s Rural Development Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar said in a statement: “We assure that truth about Shopian incident in which two women were found dead, will be brought to the fore within 48 hours.”

Mr Sagar called for restraint and warned people not to take the law into their own hands after protesters ransacked government vehicles and damaged buses.

More than 47,000 people have been killed in the region since the freedom movement against New Delhi’s rule broke out in 1989.

Kashmiri leaders put the toll at 100,000.—Agencies