Tempers cool in Kashmir after summer of violence
Friday, 5 November 2010
SRINAGAR, Nov 4 (AFP): As the first snows fall in the mountains of Indian Kashmir, tempers are also cooling after a summer of violence that saw more than 100 people die in street protests.
For more than three months, thousands of protesters, many of them teenagers, fought pitched battles with security forces in the highly militarised disputed territory, with scores killed during police shooting.
The deaths, which reached 18 in a 24-hour period in September on the worst day of violence, caused the biggest Kashmir crisis for the Indian government since the start of an insurgency against Indian rule in 1989.
But for two weeks, the region has been mostly calm, attributed partly to a series of measures by the government designed to strangle the protests and defuse anger in the Himalayan region.
For the time being, the cycle of violence has been broken -- good news for Delhi ahead of the visit to India this week of US President Barack Obama, who has spoken before about the importance of resolving the conflict.
"Each death sparked fresh violence, but as there have been no more deaths the situation has calmed to a large extent," Tahir Mohiudin, editor of the widely read Urdu weekly Chattan, told AFP.
Under the government measures, strict curfews and the jailing of protest leaders have been coupled with softer measures designed to win goodwill.
Sixteen security bunkers have been removed, 50 jailed protesters have been released and justice has been promised to the families of those killed during the unrest.
After a high-level cross-party visit to the region, New Delhi has also appointed three experts to talk to protesters and separatists in a bid to open dialogue.
For more than three months, thousands of protesters, many of them teenagers, fought pitched battles with security forces in the highly militarised disputed territory, with scores killed during police shooting.
The deaths, which reached 18 in a 24-hour period in September on the worst day of violence, caused the biggest Kashmir crisis for the Indian government since the start of an insurgency against Indian rule in 1989.
But for two weeks, the region has been mostly calm, attributed partly to a series of measures by the government designed to strangle the protests and defuse anger in the Himalayan region.
For the time being, the cycle of violence has been broken -- good news for Delhi ahead of the visit to India this week of US President Barack Obama, who has spoken before about the importance of resolving the conflict.
"Each death sparked fresh violence, but as there have been no more deaths the situation has calmed to a large extent," Tahir Mohiudin, editor of the widely read Urdu weekly Chattan, told AFP.
Under the government measures, strict curfews and the jailing of protest leaders have been coupled with softer measures designed to win goodwill.
Sixteen security bunkers have been removed, 50 jailed protesters have been released and justice has been promised to the families of those killed during the unrest.
After a high-level cross-party visit to the region, New Delhi has also appointed three experts to talk to protesters and separatists in a bid to open dialogue.