Protests intensify as death toll rises to over 80 in held Kashmir

Kashmir marked the Indian national day as a ‘black day’ since, for the last 68 years, the valley has been torn by conflict in which thousands of civilians including men, women and young have been tortured, harassed and killed.

All they want is either freedom from the unfair Indian rule or a merger with Pakistan.

Security forces shot dead five people and wounded another 20 during protests in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, according to witnesses and security sources.

Four people were killed in Aripanthan village after residents took to the streets to protest what they said were aggressive tactics by members of the security forces during an overnight patrol designed to enforce a curfew.

A further 12 protesters were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The identities of the four who died were not immediately known but all were young men.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a security official confirmed “a patrol party fired on the protesters. Four have died”.

Meanwhile, separatists killed two soldiers and one police officer in an ambush on a convoy travelling through Baramulla district, an official in the troubled region said on Wednesday.

There has also been food and medical supplies’ shortage in the troubled region.

The killing of a young and popular separatist leader, Burhan Wani, on July 8 in a gunfight with forces sent the region spiralling into daily protests against Indian rule and clashes with forces.

Deaths owing to injuries inflicted by pellet guns that often result in making the victim blind have been on a rise.

Amnesty International’s Indian chapter has appealed Indian government to put a ban on its blatant use against the stone-throwing civilians in Kashmir.

The region has remained locked down since, as separatists opposed to Indian rule called for strikes and protests and authorities responded by suspending most mobile networks and the internet and clamped rolling curfews in large parts of the territory including Srinagar.