AP Features, July 6th, 2007
Police opened fire on a crowd protesting alleged human rights abuses in the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir on Friday, killing one teenager and wounding a second person, doctors and witnesses said.
The clashes broke out as crowds left Friday prayers at the Jamia mosque in Srinagar, Kashmir's main city, chanting anti-Indian slogans in the street and throwing rocks at the security forces. Police opened fire, wounding two people, said Reyaz Ahmed, a witness at the scene.
One of the victims, a 16-year-old boy, later died, said Dr. Abid Hussain of Sher-E-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, who tried to treat him.
There was no immediate comment from the police.
A crowd of more than 300 gathered at the hospital Friday night and clashed again with police, breaking hospital windows, said Hussain.
Islamic separatists had ordered a strike across Indian Kashmir on Friday to protest alleged human rights abuses by Indian troops, forcing shops, businesses and schools to shut down.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, head of the pro-Pakistan faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the region's main separatist alliance, had issued the strike order on Wednesday with the support of the United Jehad Council, a group of rebel outfits based in Pakistan-held Kashmir.
Geelani said there has been an increase in human rights abuses by government forces in recent months.
Meanwhile in Kangan, a town 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Srinagar, hundreds of people marched to protest an Indian army soldier's killing of a civilian the day before. The protesters clashed with police and at least 10 civilians and one police officer were injured, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
The soldier had opened fire Thursday on an angry mob who accused him of trying to rape a woman in Kangan. He shot one civilian dead and wounded another before turning the gun on himself.
Nearly a dozen rebel groups reject Indian rule over Kashmir and want to carve out an independent homeland or merge with Muslim-majority Pakistan. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have died in the separatist conflict since 1989.
Kashmir is split between Pakistan and India, but claimed by both in entirety. The two sides have fought three wars, including two over Kashmir, since independence from Britain in 1947.
Many people in Muslim-majority Kashmir distrust the army of predominantly Hindu India. Government forces are often accused of torturing and killing people they suspect are tied to the militants. Authorities routinely investigate such allegations, but rarely prosecute anyone for the deaths.
