Four days into the unrest in Kashmir, more than 30 are killed, and prime minister Narendra Modi has not had a word to say. On foreign shores, he’s playing drums and tweeting birthday greetings.
Indian authorities have imposed an indefinite curfew in most parts of Kashmir, a day after government forces killed the top popular commander in the disputed Himalayan region, officials said, describing it as a major success against fighters opposed toIndian rule. Tens of thousands of people defied a curfew in parts of Kashmir on Saturday to pay homage to Burhan Wani, 22, died in a gunfight with the Indian army on Friday.
While 21 of the civilian deaths occurred in south Kashmir, the first killing in the capital happened late on Sunday. Police fear it could raise the temperature of protests in Srinagar on Monday.
“We were hopeful of getting things in control today [Sunday] but … we hardly seem to be in control anywhere,” a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera.
“South Kashmir is completely out of our hands and now Srinagar and the north are so tense that we can’t predict what will happen on Monday.”
With thousands coming out all over the restive region to mourn Wani’s killing, protests against Indian rule appear to be gaining momentum.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon calls on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint” to avoid further violence in Kashmir and hopes that all concerns would be addressed through peaceful means.
In 2010, more than 112 persons were killed, most of them stone-pelters in their late teens and early 20s. It began with the killing of an innocent boy.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over control of Kashmir, since they won independence from British colonialists in 1947. More than 68,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the subsequent Indian military crackdown.
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