ONTD_Political's PotD: September 05, 2010.
For nearly two months now Kashmir has been in the grip of violent protests, as angry young men, women and children have held demonstrations against Indian rule in the region. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, which is divided between Hindu-majority India and Pakistan, but claimed by both in its entirety.
Protesters reject Indian sovereignty over Kashmir and want to form a separate country or merge with predominantly Muslim Pakistan. The recent unrest in Indian Kashmir is reminiscent of the late 1980s, when protests against New Delhi’s rule sparked an armed conflict that has so far killed more than 68,000 people, mostly civilians.
During the uprising, India has maintained hundreds of thousands of security forces in Kashmir to fight an insurgency sponsored by Pakistan, but while that insurgency has been largely vanquished, a popular revolt against Indian rule has grown. Separatists have called for more protests and strikes during Ramadan, and the government has responded by imposing curfews, effectively shutting down the disputed region. Residents staged protest marches across much of Kashmir and chanted “Go India! Go back” and “We want freedom.”
Four protesters were killed recently when security forces opened fire during anti-India protests in Indian Kashmir, a day after the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, police said. The killings took the death toll from two months of violent protests in the Muslim-majority region to 55. The deaths came as influential separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was freed from weeks of house arrest by authorities and led thousands of residents through the main city, Srinagar, in a protest against Indian rule.
All photos by AP Photo | Altaf Qadri, except where otherwise specified.
Unidentified women try to comfort the daughter of Ghulam Nabi Badyari, 50, during his funeral ceremony in Srinagar, India, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. Badyari was seriously wounded when he was hit by a stray bullet inside his home in downtown Srinagar after soldiers fired at protesters who destroyed a sentry post and threw rocks at them, said a police officer. For nearly two months now Kashmir has been in the grip of violent protests, as angry young men, women and children, have held demonstrations against Indian rule in the region.
A Kashmiri Muslim wears a bullet shell as a pendant as he attends the funeral ceremony of Ghulam Nabi Badyari, in Srinagar, India, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. Badyari was seriously wounded when he was hit by a stray bullet inside his home in downtown Srinagar after soldiers fired at protesters who destroyed a sentry post and threw rocks at them, said a police officer.
A Kashmiri cries near the body of Ghulam Nabi Badyari, 50, during his funeral ceremony in Srinagar, India, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. Badyari was seriously wounded when he was hit by a stray bullet inside his home in downtown Srinagar after soldiers fired at protesters who destroyed a sentry post and threw rocks at them, said a police officer.
A Kashmiri Muslim mourner shouts slogans from an ambulance as the body of Shabir Ahamed Malik, who allegedly died when security force's fired shots, is taken away from a hospital in Srinagar, India, Thursday, Aug 5, 2010. Kashmir has been rocked by violent protests for nearly two months with demonstrators hurling rocks at paramilitary soldiers and setting government buildings and vehicles ablaze. In response, security forces have fired live rounds and tear gas into large crowds.
Kashmiri boys ride their bicycle past a graffiti during a curfew in Srinagar, India, Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. Authorities re-imposed a curfew in most parts of Indian Kashmir Monday as separatists called for fresh protests against Indian rule in the disputed region this week.
An Indian policeman rests against closed shops during curfew in downtown area of Srinagar, India, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. Thousands of Kashmiri Muslims protested against Indian rule in the Himalayan region of Kashmir and offered special prayers for nearly 50 people who died in last two months of civil unrest.
A Kashmiri Muslim protestor makes graffiti on a road as bystanders look on in Wathoora on the outskirts of Srinagar, India, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. Thousands of Kashmiri Muslims protested against Indian rule in the Himalayan region of Kashmir and offered special prayers for nearly 50 people who died in last two months of civil unrest.
Aabid Nabi holds a photograph of his brother Fida, who was shot during a protest against India's military presence, at his family home in Srinagar, India, on Aug. 9, 2010.
(The New York Times)
Kashmiri youth throw stones at security forces in Srinagar, India, on Aug. 9, 2010.
(The New York Times)
Shifat Farooq, center, 12, grieves for her cousin, Fida Nabi, who was shot during a protest against India's military presence, at the Nabi family home in Srinagar, India, on Aug. 9, 2010.
(The New York Times)
A Kashmiri youth throws stones at security forces in Srinagar, India, on Aug. 9, 2010.
(The New York Times)
Family members attend the wake of slain Kashmiri youth Fida Nabi at the family's home in Srinagar, India, on Aug. 9, 2010.
(The New York Times)
A Kashmiri youth ties a scarf around his neck as he prepares to take part in a demonstration in Srinagar, India, on Aug. 9, 2010.
(The New York Times)
Kashmiri women look out from their windows as Kashmiri Muslims protest in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010.
(AP Photo | Mukhtar Khan)
Kashmiri protesters face Indian policemen during an anti-Indian protest, in downtown Srinagar, on August 13, 2010. Four protesters were killed Friday when security forces opened fire during anti-India protests in Indian Kashmir, a day after the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, police said. The killings took the death toll from two months of violent protests in the Muslim-majority region to 55. The deaths came as influential separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was freed from weeks of house arrest by authorities and led thousands of residents through the main city, Srinagar, in a protest against Indian rule.
(TAUSEEF MUSTAFA | AFP/Getty Images)
Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol a deserted street in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. Protests against Indian rule erupted across Indian-controlled Kashmir Saturday despite tens of thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled the streets and security was tightened across most parts of the disputed region.
Kashmiri boys play in front of a closed shop with a graffiti written on its shutter during curfew in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. Protests against Indian rule erupted across Indian-controlled Kashmir Saturday despite tens of thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled the streets and security was tightened across most parts of the disputed region.
A Kashmiri Muslim woman watches a protest from inside her home in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. Protests erupted across Indian-controlled Kashmir Saturday despite tens of thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolling the streets as security was tightened to quell anti-Indian demonstrations.
(AP Photo | Dar Yasin)
A Kashmiri Muslim woman walks past a wall painted with graffiti against India during a protest in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. Protests erupted across Indian-controlled Kashmir Saturday despite tens of thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolling the streets as security was tightened to quell anti-Indian demonstrations.
(AP Photo | Dar Yasin)
Kashmiri Muslim women react as people carry a wounded boy, unseen, during a protest in Srinagar, India, Monday, Aug. 16, 2010. Thousands of armed police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled nearly deserted streets in Srinagar and other major towns and enforced a strict curfew in most of the Kashmir region Monday.
(AP Photo | Dar Yasin)
Kashmiri protesters shout slogans near burning tires set up as road blockade during a protest on the outskirts of Srinagar, India, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010. Protests erupted across Indian Kashmir Wednesday despite thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolling the streets amid strict curfew.
(AP Photo | Dar Yasin)
Kashmiris jostle to get a registration ticket at Government Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases in Srinagar, India. More than two decades of brutal warfare between largely Muslim separatist insurgents and largely Hindu Indian troops in this Himalayan region have left Kashmiris exhausted, traumatized and broken. The rate of suicide, once unthinkable in this Islamic society, has gone up 26-fold, from .5 per 100,000 before the insurgency to 13 per 100,000 now, according to Dr. Arshad Hussain, a Kashmiri psychiatrist.
Elderly men sit outside the Psychiatric Department of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Government Hospital in Srinagar, India.
Kashmiri protesters shout slogans in Pampore, on the outskirts of Srinagar, India. More than two decades of brutal warfare between largely Muslim separatist insurgents and largely Hindu Indian troops in this Himalayan region have left Kashmiris exhausted, traumatized and broken.
(AP Photo | Mukhtar Khan, File)
A Kashmiri woman pleads with police officers to release her relative who was detained allegedly while playing cricket in a park during curfew in Srinagar, India.
(AP Photo | Dar Yasin, File)
The daughter of Mohammad Asim, a civilian killed in a protest, cries as she reaches out from inside an ambulance outside a local hospital in Srinagar, India.
(AP Photo | Dar Yasin, File)
Relatives of Iqbal Ahmed Khan, a Kashmiri who died from injuries after police fired weapons during a protest, wail during his funeral procession in Srinagar, India.
(AP Photo | Dar Yasin, File)
Kashmiri protesters hit a burning government vehicle after they set it on fire during a protest at Barthana neighborhood in Srinagar, India. More than two decades of brutal warfare between largely Muslim separatist insurgents and largely Hindu Indian troops in this Himalayan region have left Kashmiris exhausted, traumatized and broken. Children, inured to the violence, have become angry, aggressive and helpless, said Dr. Mushtaq Margoob, a psychiatrist who has done extensive studies on trauma in Kashmir.
(AP Photo | Dar Yasin, File)
An Indian paramilitary soldier keeps watch from a rooftop during a curfew in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. Protests against Indian rule erupted across Indian-controlled Kashmir Saturday despite tens of thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled the streets and security was tightened across most parts of the disputed region.
Source: "Kashmir, Valley of Tears" | In Focus | Denver Post