SRINAGAR, India — Simmering anger over India’s crackdown on 10 weeks of protests in Kashmir risks drawing more young people to radical rebellion, demonstrators and security officials warn, as the sense of despair and alienation from New Delhi deepens.
In the worst unrest in the disputed Himalayan region for six years, more than 80 civilians have been killed and thousands wounded, a widespread curfew is in place and suspected ringleaders are being held without charge.
“They are treating us like ‘dons’, like we are criminals,” said Bilal Bhat, a 27-year-old journalist who is active in a local youth civil rights movement.
Bhat was taken in by police in August and told to stop posting articles on Facebook. It was the second time he has been held. “
When I was beaten by the cop, I cursed myself for taking a pen — I should have taken a gun instead,” he said.
A conflict that has seeped for decades and spilled into war twice between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan usually passes little noticed by the international community.
But the scale of the violence and security crackdown, and, more recently, a sharp escalation in tension between the neighboring countries, have made the outside world sit up and pay attention.
India’s security forces have also reinforced their already large presence in Kashmir, drafting in 20,000 paramilitaries and 10,000 more soldiers.
A senior Home Ministry official said India’s security forces had reduced their use of pellet ammunition, which has drawn widespread condemnation, and had been instructed only to fire when they felt directly threatened.
“It is clear that the local Kashmiri youths were being used by Pakistan to attack Indian forces,” the official said, responding to questions from Reuters about the use of force and risk of youth radicalization.
“It is true that there is a lot of anger among the Kashmiris, but we cannot legitimize their anger if it is for all the wrong reasons.”
India blames Pakistan for a raid earlier this month on a base that killed 18 soldiers, in the deadliest attack on its army in 14 years, prompting Hindu nationalist supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to call for revenge. — Reuters
