SECURITY forces in Indian Kashmir fired teargas to disperse mourners at a funeral procession for the latest victim of violence in the disputed region.
Hopes of calm returning after weeks of angry anti-India protests were dashed following clashes on Wednesday during which security forces killed two more civilians.
Thousands of Kashmiris chanting “we want freedom!” defied a curfew to join the funeral procession in Srinagar, the summer capital of Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir.
Police fired teargas and swung batons to disperse the crowds, injuring at least six people, witnesses and doctors said. Violent demonstrations erupted elsewhere in the city despite an appeal for restraint from influential separatist politician Syed Ali Geelani. “Demonstrations should be peaceful,” he said. “Wherever you are stopped, sit down and tell them ‘now you can fire at us’, but don’t indulge in violence.”
Police officials said security forces opened fire, killing two people in Srinagar. The shootings sparked further protests during which crowds attacked police and paramilitary posts. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a moderate separatist leader, said he had written to the UN chief Ban Ki-moon saying India had “declared an open war in Kashmir”. “The situation is getting worse and uglier by the day,” Mr Farooq wrote, urging the UN to intervene.
Kashmir has been rocked by violent protests against rule from New Delhi since early June when a teenage student was killed by a police teargas shell. Some 47 people have been killed since, most of them shot dead by security forces. India and Pakistan each hold part of Kashmir but both claim it in full.
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