Kashmir protests against Indian rule

India (AP):

Government forces in Indian Kashmir fired at hundreds of people protesting New Delhi's rule over the Himalayan region, killing one person and wounding at least five others yesterday as weeks of civil unrest continued unabated.

Troops fired at protesters on a highway near Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir, when they began a march against Indian rule in defiance of a strict curfew, a police officer said. One person was killed and another wounded in the shooting, the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

At least 41 people have died over the past seven weeks in street clashes between Muslim protesters and paramilitary troops of the Hindu-dominated government.

Angry young Kashmiris have attacked security camps with rocks and burned police stations. Government forces have responded by imposing round-the-clock curfews and using live ammunition and tear gas to disperse the protesters.

'We want freedom'

The recent unrest in Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both, is reminiscent of the late 1980s, when protests against New Delhi's rule sparked an armed conflict that has since claimed 68,000 lives, mostly civilians.

Soon after yesterday's shooting, protests erupted in the area with residents chanting slogans "Go India! go back" and "We want freedom."

Hundreds also defied the curfew in the western Kashmir town of Budgam and held a protest march. Government forces fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse the protesters, injuring four people, the officer said.

Tens of thousands of armed police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled the deserted streets of Indian Kashmir and warned residents to stay indoors.

The police official said the army was also patrolling the main highways in the region to stop protesters from blocking them.

Kashmir's top elected official, Omar Abdullah, renewed his appeal for calm and reviewed the situation with military, police and intelligence officials soon after returning from a meeting Monday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.

Abdullah and Singh discussed ways of defusing the crisis and restoring normalcy in Kashmir, officials said.