Complete shutdown in India-held Kashmir against killing of civilians
State and paramilitary police fired bullets and shotgun pellets on thousands of protesters.
SRINAGAR (Dunya News) - A complete shutdown is being observed in held Kashmir on Monday against the brutal killings of 12 youth by Indian troops in Budgam district.
The Hurriyet forum Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told media men in Srinagar that the leadership had called for the two-day shutdown against the killings.
At least 12 youth including two teenage boys were shot dead and around a hundred were injured after Indian forces opened fire on demonstrators protesting against the holding of sham Indian parliamentary elections in Bagdam, Srinagar and Gandarbal districts on Sunday.
The martyrs were identified as Faizan Ahmad Dar, Jan Muhammad Rathar, Nisar Ahmad, Shabbir Ahmad Butt, Aadil Ahmad Sheikh, Amir Bashir,Umar Farooq and Aqeel Ahmad Wani. These youth were martyred at Charar-e-Sharif, Beerwah, Chadoora and Narbal areas in Badgam district.
State and paramilitary police fired bullets and shotgun pellets as thousands of protesters shouting slogans against Indian rule charged into voting booths in Budgam district near the main city of Srinagar.
Many were grievously injured with bullets fired by police and paramilitary troops, hospital sources in Srinagar said.
In the Charare-e-Sharif area of Budgam two people were killed when the paramilitary Border Security Force fired at protesters, he said.
Another person was killed in the Beerwah area of the same district when paramilitary police opened fire at a stone-throwing crowd.
Three more were killed in the day-long clashes, with two of them succumbing to multiple pellet injuries from the shotguns which Indian paramilitary forces use in Kashmir for crowd control.
Polling had to be halted in more than dozen places amid a call by top Hurriyet leaders opposed to Indian rule to boycott the by-election.
The poll drama totally flopped as only 6.5 percent of voters turned out to cast their ballot, the state’s chief electoral officer Shantmanu told AFP, 26 percent less than in the last elections held in 2014 and the lowest ever participation recorded in any election in the disputed territory.
Internet suspended
Almost entire Hurriyet leadership including Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Aasiya Andrabi and Nayeem Ahmed Khan is either in jails or under house detention.
Former state chief minister Farooq Abdullah, who is contesting the Srinagar seat, slammed the government for its failure to maintain law and order.
"Elections should have been peaceful. This government has failed in giving a peaceful atmosphere for people to come and vote," he told reporters.
Ahead of the polling, authorities suspended internet services across the Kashmir Valley for fear of widespread protests.
Police had also detained hundreds of young people and separatist activists in the run-up to the poll, sources told AFP.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the disputed territory in its entirety.
Around 500,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in the region.
Ahead of Sunday’s polling, the Indian government had sent in 20,000 additional paramilitaries.
--- with inputs from AFP.
