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Protests in Srinagar against the army killing two youths
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By
IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, September 13 (IslamOnline) - Valley of Kashmir observed a
general strike Friday, September 13, 2002, against the killing of two
youths in Maisuma locality near Lal Chowk Thursday night by the Border
Security Force (BSF).
There
was tension in Srinagr, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir
state, Friday as the funeral procession of the two victims turned
violent. Shops and business were closed, schools sent students home
and people stayed off the streets.
Protestors
pelted stones at police and security forces in Srinagar. They later
resorted to burning tires on the roads and blocking the movement of
traffic. The security forces fired tear gas on the protestors and beat
them up.
One
of the two youths killed was identified as Nazir Ahmad Dar of
Batamaloo while the other was an auto rickshaw driver of Maisuma. They
were arrested at Batamaloo Thursday. It is normal for the security
forces to kill suspects in custody or to torture them to death and
then dump their bodies somewhere. The usual excuse in such cases is
that the victims were killed in an "encounter" or while
trying to flee from custody. Local people do not buy these claims. A
relative of one of the victims described the killings as cold-blooded
murder.
While
security forces said that the two men were shot at because they were
trying to run away during questioning, protesters said they were
innocent. Protesters tore up election posters and banners. The police
then fired tear gas shells to control the crowd.
According
to reports from Srinagar, police fired several tear gas shells at the
victims' funeral convoy moving slowly through the center of Srinagar,
Kashmir's main city, as mourners shouted "Long live
Pakistan!" and "We want freedom!"
Friday
was the last day for election campaigning in the areas covered by the
first phase of elections. Militants assassinated the state Law
Minister Wednesday. More than 300 people have been killed since the
election was announced in early August, including more than a dozen
candidates and party workers. The fourth and last phase of the
elections will end October 8.
India
pushed in an extra 45,000 security personnel who have joined the
450,000 soldiers and paramilitary troops already in the state.
Back
in New York, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, while speaking in
the UN General Assembly Thursday, denounced the election as rigged and
said it would not contribute to peace. Ultimately, the people of
Kashmir must be allowed to determine their own future through a
referendum, he said.
India
accuses Islamabad of arming and training the militants fighting its
rule in Kashmir, a charge Pakistan denies. New Delhi regards the level
of election violence as a crucial test of Musharraf's pledge to stop
rebels crossing the frontier.
Indian
Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal criticized Musharraf's UN speech.
"In every respect, both in regard to the conceptual framework
within which the issue of terrorism has to be addressed as well as the
specific problems relating to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, General
Musharraf as usual managed to say absolutely the wrong things,"
he told reporters in New York.
