Protests erupt with casualties
Protests have taken place as the Indian military tries to impose a full curfew. There have been at least six people killed and more than 100 wounded in the protests.
A recent article says : “According to media reports, the Indian Army used bullets, teargas, and pellets and engaged in shelling on the protesters as they took to the streets of various towns, including Srinagar, Pulwama, and Baramulla, despite a paralysing curfew and the deployment of additional troops in Occupied Kashmir.”
Over a hundred people are reported to have been arrested. The Indian police claim that the area has been mostly peaceful since the curfew was imposed last Sunday with only a few cases of stone-throwing.
Kashmir autonomy revoked
The protests were against the Indian government’s revocation of Article 370 of the Indian constitutions that gave special rights, including many long-standing semi-autonomous privileges to the Muslim-majority area.
There is a communications blackout with virtually no means of contacting those outside the area and the press suppressed as well. TV channels, phone connections, and Internet access have all been block through the area. Coils of barbed wire are reported around Kashmiri towns and villages.
In the capital Srinagar, military checkpoints are erected every 100 meters across the city. Only people whose jobs are considered essential are allowed in the street. Many suspected pro-independence individuals have been preemptively detained.
Some exchange of fire across border
Pakistan has protested the removal of autonomy from Indian-controlled Kashmir as tension between the two countries increases.
There have been some exchanges of fire across the border separating Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Kashmir. Such exchanges have happened in the past but could always escalate into a full-scale war when tensions are so high.
The Jerusalem Post reports: “Clashes broke out on Wednesday between Indian and Pakistani troops along the border in Kashmir, according to Fars news. Local media reported that troops on the border had exchanged heavy fire and that Pakistani troops have fired mortars in the clashes.”
