Indian Kashmir calls for reinforcements to control the wave of civil violence

New Delhi, Aug. 2. - The Government of Indian Kashmir Tuesday called reinforcements to the central executive at the increasing wave of violence in the troubled region, where 21 people have died since Friday in protest.
"The Home Office has assured me that they will consider our request to increase the number of troops to handle the situation," he said at a press conference in Delhi on Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.
Abdullah met with urgency, with Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh and the Ministers of Finance, Foreign, Interior and Defence, with a view to finding ways to "restore" normalcy in the region.
The Kashmir valley is engulfed in a wave of violence since mid-June, following the death of a teenager at the hands of security forces during a demonstration, which led to a spiral of further protests and police repression .
Since then they have killed about 35 people, six of them today, police said, in anti-Indian protests, with constant curfews and movement restrictions in major towns, measures, said Abdullah, remain in force so " strict. "
Locals accuse security forces of killing innocent civilians, but police said they resorted to firing only after trying to disperse protesters with tear gas and charges.
"We are caught in a spiral of violence in the protests that lead to deaths that lead to further protests," said Kashmiri Prime Minister, who acknowledged that "clearly" need "increase strength" to restore order.
Kashmir has over twenty years of sporadic violence that have claimed thousands of lives, but the activity of insurgents seeking independence for the territory or its annexation to Pakistan had decreased in recent times.
Today, however, Indian Minister of Home Affairs, Palaniappan Chidambaram, admitted to Parliament that the situation has taken "serious bias in recent days," the prime minister and Kashmiri called it "extremely difficult".
Although Abdullah described the Kashmiri problem as a "political issue", new measures relied resolution of that conflict prior to a return of normalcy and an end to the wave of protests, and asked the public to stop "to take the law into his hand. "
Under a massive deployment of troops and security forces, thousands of Kashmiris, mostly youths and adolescents, often defying curfews and facing stones against Indian troops in the streets of major cities.
"Peace? We do not want peace. What we want is a solution. Peace has served only to forget that the Indian Government and our problems and delayed tape solutions, "told Efe alleged leader of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, Umar Farooq.
His training, which has several of its leaders imprisoned, has called on his followers to further protests and marches, and Farooq predicted today that if India sends more forces to this historic region near the Himalayas, the situation "will only worsen."
Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority region of India, is the main dispute between India and Pakistan, who dispute their sovereignty from the independence of both in 1947 and have since fought two wars for control of territory.
Both powers have proved incapable of moving towards a satisfactory solution, and India accuses Pakistan of helping insurgents to cross the LoC border for attacks and attacks in Indian Kashmir.
"We have 20 years with the same problem. Everyone should take a step forward to reach any agreement acceptable to all, "he told Efe the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kashmir, Nadir A. Dar.
The curfews and the constant protests are causing local industry daily losses of about $ 20 million, according to his calculation, and damage to the two regional economic pillars: the craft and cultivation of apples.

Kashmir, life under curfew

Srinagar (India), December 27, 2008. - Back to home before dark, avoid contact with the paramilitaries and to stockpile staples are some informal rules used by the Kashmiris to meet the continuing curfews .
"If half past six I'm not home, my family lives a real drama. Your first thought is you have had any problems with the soldiers, so get calling like crazy, "says Altaf Efe, an economist at Srinagar.
At the heart of Kashmir's summer capital is current setting curfews, enacted by the authorities to deal calls for the strike - "hartaal" - the separatist Hurriyat Conference.
In days of protests or restriction of movement, shops, banks and schools throw the lock and citizens do not leave home, so that the city offers a desolate, only altered by the massive presence of thousands of paramilitaries.
"You have to return soldiers to their barracks. The insurgency has lost a lot and yet, the number of soldiers remains the same. There is no balance, "he complained in an interview with Efe the People's Democratic Party president, Mehbooba Mufti.
According to the Chamber of Commerce, the Valley of Kashmir has been in the past six months one hundred days of curfews formal or informal, which means a daily loss of 14 million.
The center of Srinagar is usually also the scene of demonstrations organized by the separatist Hurriyat Conference, who asked his followers to boycott regional elections recently concluded.
"Kashmir is that explains a dependent-there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers. It is easy to understand: you go out and the first thing you see is a rifle. It's not very nice. "
However, the Kashmiris have come to get used to curfews, as evidenced by the daily cricket matches disputing children, indifferent to the presence of soldiers that lie just a few meters.
Since 1989, tens of thousands have died or disappeared victims of insurgent violence or expedited methods used by security forces.
"Serve this month as an example, Mufti tells. There have been a rape, a girl of 16 years at the hands of a soldier. And in another village a man tried to defend her daughter from the paramilitaries, and two days later found dead. How to accept it? ".
Popular culture is full of stories cashmere sinister about bodies such as the Seventh Battalion and Special Forces, charged with multiple violations of human rights activists from Srinagar.
In his defense, however, the Indian authorities mentioned the need to fight the insurgent groups operating in Kashmir soil and in its violent defiance against the state have not hesitated to attack the civilian population.
Scene of several wars, Kashmir is a territory in dispute and dealt three nuclear powers-India, Pakistan and China, following independence and partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.
And besides, your soil has been fodder for a violent insurgent rebellion since 1989, after a fraudulent electoral process that led to the separatists to take up arms against India, with the tacit support of Pakistan.
In recent years, insurgent violence has decreased, are, according to India, 800 rebels, but the Kashmiris continue to use street protests as a way to assert independence and show their anger at the lack of opportunities.
"Here, all say they are fighting on our behalf, but nobody cares. We have twenty years paying the lack of one or the other, and still expect us to vote, "laments a waiter in a hotel, after making sure no one else is listening.
Today there is no curfew, so you can go home.

Regional elections end with less violence in Kashmir

Srinagar (India), Dec. 24 (EFE). - The Indian Kashmir shut your appointment today with a high turnout election in an environment marked by less violence, a massive police presence and a boycott call by separatists that hit the regional capital, Srinagar, though less than in previous elections.
The seventh and final phase of elections held in 21 constituencies today, called for the vote of 1,638,000 Kashmiri of Srinagar and the Hindu-majority southern areas surrounding the winter capital, Jammu, where turnout was high.
There, according to the Indian Election Commission, 68 percent of voters went to the polls, while 20 percent did in Srinagar, where in past elections, also boycotted, voted just 5 percent.
"With these data, the share of the total of the seven phases has been of 61.5 percent, up from 43 percent in 2002," he said at a press conference the head of the Commission, BR Sharma.
The slight fog which ushered in Srinagar woke to a sunny day, although most voters stayed home in an unusual environment for the watchful presence of thousands of troops from the security forces.
The separatist Hurriyat Conference, powerful in the city, had called for a boycott of the elections and had called for a protest march today to be from the central Red Square, but police stopped the device separatist attempt.
"It will be difficult to demonstrate in Red Square. All access is closed. Have controls, blocked everything. It is very clear that the Government does not want the march to take place, "he told Efe on the eve of President Umar Faruq Hurriyat.
In anticipation of incidents, the authorities had already declared Tuesday a curfew in the city, so that the streets deserted of pedestrians and woke up with a very restricted traffic and subject to controls.
At least fourteen people were injured in riots in some districts of the civilian areas of Srinagar, where separatist groups fought the paramilitary strongly guarding the polls.
"I did not vote. We have 700,000 soldiers in our region. Is this what they call elections? Neither Pakistan nor India are interested in solving the conflict cashmere. And who gets the people, "a shopkeeper told Efe affected by the curfew.
Although the campaign has been marked by the development promises of the leading candidates in recent days have also become important tensions between India and Pakistan following the Mumbai attacks in late November.
The India attributed the attacks to the Kashmiri separatist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, operating from Pakistan, the country with which the dispute-and deals-the territory of Kashmir since independence and partition of the subcontinent in 1947.
"I voted because I want peace. I do not want war. We have 20 years of war have only served to sink and leave us without work, "says an old tour guide in front of the beautiful Dal Lake, the main attraction of the city.
Kashmir has plunged nearly two decades of conflict, and although in recent years the situation had improved, a dispute over ownership of land in summer pilgrimage prompted a wave of protests by Hindus and Muslims that left 40 dead.
That renewed tension raised fears that the elections would mark a return to violence, but according to the Election Commission has just the opposite happened: five civilians have died in this election, compared with 63 who died in 2002.
"This election has surprised many by the high turnout and the absence of violence. There is no fear of reprisals for voting. And people want a solution to their problems of everyday life, "he said in an interview with Efe the candidate of the nationalist National Conference, Omar Abdullah.
According to Hurriyat, however, the high turnout is the result of fraud Kashmiris in rural areas, where he said Faruq, the Indian Army has great power and pushes citizens to the polls.
The Indian Election Commission, which has strongly denied that possibility, plans to have the votes next 28, the wait both the National Conference as the other favorites, the Congress Party and the Democratic Party.

Indian Kashmir morning full process to renew the Regional Assembly

Srinagar (India), December 23, 2008. - With the usual boycott by Muslim separatists, Indian Kashmir goes to the polls tomorrow to renew its regional assembly, after a long election process has coincided with a new crisis between India and Pakistan .
The last of the seven phases they were divided elections are called more than 1,600,000 voters in 21 constituencies, including eleven of the winter capital, Jammu, and eight in the troubled summer capital, Srinagar.
Political leaders were satisfied by the environment "peaceful" campaign, "the best in 20 years", although in recent days there have been clashes between protesters and security forces, and a Hindu radical candidate has been killed in Jammu.
"This campaign has been a surprise to most people for two reasons: the almost total absence of insurgent violence and high voter participation in elections," he told Efe leader training National Conference, Omar Abdullah.
Although so far has had little success the call to boycott separatist Hurriyat group, its leaders have called for a demonstration tomorrow in downtown Srinagar, which is often the scene of heavy fighting and is on high alert.
Anticipating trouble, the authorities said today as a curfew in the city, so that the roads were almost deserted of pedestrians-only citizens with permits can walk, and the traffic was very restricted.
On the road, police identity checks performed every few meters, while thousands of soldiers and paramilitary armed with rifles guard every nook and traders have been quick to take, again, the lock in their establishments.
"We can not continue. Between July and December we had to close 100 days of curfews and the manifestations of radical, "complained Efe president of the Cashmere Chamber of Commerce, Mubeen Shah.
Thus, the central shopping plaza Lal Chowk, the traditional meeting point for the separatists, had only inhabitants today as members of the security forces, holed up with their arms along with several armored vehicles.
"The curfew will run until tomorrow in the city. This is to prevent the insurgents cause problems, "one soldier told Efe nearby.
In Srinagar, the task of security forces is to ensure access to voting population and neutralize the call to "Lal chalo" - "go to Lal (Chowk)" - the followers of the Hurriyat, whose leaders are under arrest.
Outside the city, the authorities have ordered the deployment of 21,000 unique members of security forces in Samba district (two districts) and Jammu, where three suspected terrorists have been arrested, police said today.
Those arrested were three Pakistanis, one soldier in his army, which allegedly belong to the fundamentalist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and planned a suicide attack in Jammu during the vote, said the director general of police, Kuldip Khoda .
Despite the incidents, the head of the Regional Electoral Commission, BR Sharma, told Efe that the level of violence is being "very low" and denied that there have been pressures in the voting, as local rights groups say humans.
The percentage of popular participation in the first six phases has been 63.7 percent, according to Sharma, up over 20 points to the index reached in the 2002 elections, also boycotted by separatists.
The electoral process in Kashmir was marked by tension between India and Pakistan following the attack in late November in Mumbai, the Indian government accused the group Lashkar-e-Toiba, which fights for the annexation of Kashmir to Pakistan India.
The drift of the new bilateral crisis affects in a special way to the region, since the two countries are fighting and divided territory since partition and independence of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. On Kashmir, India and Pakistan have fought two wars already.

Indian Kashmir voting begins for the Assembly, with separatist boycott

New Delhi, November 17, 2008. - After months of political and social upheaval and the call for boycott of separatist groups, Indian Kashmir today held the first round of voting on election to the Assembly, to be held in seven phases until 24 December.
The schools were closed at 16.00 local (10.30 GMT) in the ten districts of the 87 planned total, spread over the valley of Kashmir (Muslim majority), the southern part of Jammu (Hindu) and eastern Ladakh (Buddhist).
Despite the snow and cold in some districts voted below zero, small groups of voters came to vote in schools, in the midst of a wide array of Indian security forces, who had to deal with some incidents.
"There has been little minor incidents, all highly localized. So we can say that this first phase has passed so happy, "said Efe by telephone the chief of the Election Commission of Kashmir, BR Sharma.
Today they were called to the polls nearly 600,000 voters, of 6.54 million statewide.
While most districts Hindu or Buddhist people went to vote in the Kashmir valley was felt the call to boycott Muslim separatist groups, with the Hurriyat Conference forward.
The images broadcast by the channel NDTV delhi desert footage showed the winter capital of Kashmir, Srinagar, where shops remained closed doors and only a few soldiers patrolling the streets.
In the Muslim who voted today, there was a clash between activists of different formations in the district of Sonawari that forced the closure of the polls, while in the city of Bandipora police confronted demonstrators protesting against the elections, as Indian agencies.
In the absence of definitive data, Sharma estimated that between 45 and 50 percent of voters cast their ballots today.
"We think that the turnout was lower. But there is no international observers. No way to know if what the government says is true, "countered spokesman Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, contacted by telephone Efe.
"Our leader (Pervez Imroz) was arrested in front of the media. Not involved in the protests. We sent 50 volunteers to observe the electoral process, "he told Efe on the other hand a spokesman for the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons after his arrest by security forces.
The main Kashmiri separatist leaders are currently under house arrest.
"We have a week under arrest. But at least people are showing that rejects elections. Kashmir needs an agreement between all-India, Pakistan and us, before any electoral process, "said Farooq.
Although elections were scheduled for last October, the security situation led to the Election Commission to postpone them until now and in seven days parcelarlas vote.
The counting of votes will begin on December 28, with projected earnings announcement day 31.
Kashmir came under command of the governor (a kind of representative of the Government of Delhi) in July, after the breakdown of the executive who formed the Congress Party Sonia Gandhi and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP).
The formation of Gandhi, PDP, National Conference and the radical Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party are the main contenders in this election to the Assembly of 87 members.
The breakdown was as executive undercurrent Kashmiri protests of Hindus and Muslims by the cession of land to the organization of the Hindu temple of Amarnath, to that embraced the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who come in August.
The government revoked the sale after protests from the Muslim community, but it only managed to arouse public feeling Hindus.
About 40 people were killed in the months of protests from both communities, economically isolated Kashmir and gave renewed encouragement to separatist demands.
The riots this year have only to note the virulent history of cashmere enclave, the only Muslim-majority India, this country is disputed with Pakistan since independence and partition of the subcontinent in 1947.

India and Pakistan open historic trade routes in Kashmir

New Delhi, Oct 21 (EFE). - India and Pakistan today took a step forward in relations with the opening of two trade routes in the disputed Kashmir region, disputed since the independence of both countries in 1947.
After more than six decades closed to trade, thirteen Indian trucks garlanded carpets and loaded with apples, walnuts, almonds, black mushrooms and paper mache crossed the Line of Control that separates the two countries and divides Kashmir into two.
Only two steps are approved: the road between the towns of Muzaffarabad (Pakistan) and Srinagar (India), known as "route of Jhelum", and the connection between Rawlakote (Pakistan) and Punch (India).
On the Indian side, the regional governor, NN Vohra, gave vent to the column of goods, in a ceremony witnessed by hundreds of people wearing their best clothes and celebrated with drums, India news agency reported IANS.
"Trade is good for everyone. It will be a good contribution to relations between the two countries. Now much will need to know the business, "he told Efe by telephone the president of the Chamber of Commerce Indian Kashmir, Mubin Shah.
The opening of the routes was agreed by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during their meeting last month in New York, having been recommended by a high-level bilateral commission.
But trade is limited to 21 products subject to local permits.
In addition, the trucks of each country shall not enter 20 kilometers into the territory of the other, where they deposit the load on local vehicles that lead to its final destination.
The two steps had already been open to the movement of people in 2005.
With the decision to open these routes now to trade, both countries respond to the demand of the Kashmiri nationalist parties, who had insisted on the measure during the summer riots in India's part.
"Welcome the opening of the route. It is a significant first step. But what we want is an agreement that addresses the problem real cashmere, "he told Efe by telephone spokesman independence training Hurriyat, Abdul Ghani Butt.
Between July and August this year, 40 people were killed in clashes in India's part arising from the controversy over the possible sale of public land to a committee of pilgrimages to the Hindu temple of Amarnath.
The riots between Hindus and Muslims led to an economic blockade on the region, traders attempted to break a protest march to Muzaffarabad, but police prevented them from crossing the border and seven people died from gunfire.
Cyclic scenario outbreak of violence and several wars since independence and partition of the subcontinent, the Kashmir territory is divided between India (with 45 percent), Pakistan (35 percent) and China (20 percent).
India and Pakistan, both nuclear power, have embarked on a slow process of thawing since the 1999 Kargil conflict would lead the former U.S. President Bill Clinton, to describe Kashmir as the "most dangerous place on earth" .
But now they are still frequent shootouts between both armies at the border and also clashes with insurgents armed independence groups dozen operating in the Indian side.
In its territory, India faces the demands of the Kashmiris, the only majority-Muslim country, which will have the opportunity of manifest regional elections planned in seven phases, for November and December.
Although the authorities are confident that these elections take place without incident, the elections have already been boycotted by the separatist Hurriyat Conference, according to his spokesman confirmed today.
"Elections are not the answer. We are not against democracy, but we want a true reflection of the aspirations of the people. Hurriyat why not go to the elections, "said Butt.