Kashmir on strike to protest mysterious killings
Residents of Indian-administered Kashmir have staged a strike in response to a string of mysterious killings in the disputed Himalayan valley.
On Wednesday, almost all shops and schools remained closed, and traffic stayed off the streets in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Kashmir region.
Indian security sources confirmed that several other major towns in Muslim-majority regions also observed the strike.
“The effect of the strike is widespread across towns in the Kashmir Valley and other Muslim majority areas of the state also,” AFP quoted an unnamed senior Indian police officer as saying.
Sources say hundreds of Indian paramilitary troops patrolled the main city of Srinagar and some other major regions.
The strike was called by several pro-independence groups that oppose New Delhi’s rule over the valley. This came after at least seven people, including some activists, were gunned down under mysterious circumstance across the Sopore area of the valley over the past three weeks.
Indian security officials have claimed that initial probes indicate that fighters from the Hizbul Mujahideen group have been behind the attacks. It is one of several groups fighting for independence for the territory.
However, Kashmiri leaders blame India’s secret government agencies for the killings.
Indian troops are in constant clashes with the armed groups seeking independence across the valley.
The New Delhi government has also deployed large contingents of police and paramilitary troops to most parts of Srinagar and several other major towns to prevent street demonstrations.
Kashmir lies at the heart of nearly 68 years of hostility between India and Pakistan. Both neighbors claim the region in full, but have partial control over it.
Thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir unrest since the 1980s.
JR/HJL/GHN
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