Police impose restrictions in Kashmir after Imran’s speech

Authorities in Indian Kashmir tightened restrictions on people’s movements on Saturday to prevent possible protests following a speech by Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan.

In an address to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Khan warned of a bloodbath once India lifts its restrictions in Kashmir, which have been in force since it revoked the region’s decades-old autonomy in August and detained thousands of people.

Soon after the speech, hundreds of Kashmiris came out of their homes, shouting slogans in support of Khan late on Friday night and calling for the independence of Kashmir.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between nuclear- armed India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the divided territory. Both countries rule parts of Kashmir while claiming it in full.

On Saturday, police vans fitted with speakers made public announcements in some parts of Srinagar about movement restrictions, while additional troops were deployed to prevent protests, according to officials and two witnesses.

The troops also blocked access to the main business centre of Srinagar with razor wire.

‘This was necessitated after protests across Srinagar city last night soon after Imran Khan’s speech,’ said a police official.

Two Indian officials said six militants and one Indian soldier had been killed in two separate incidents in the state.

Three militants were killed in Ganderbal, about 12 miles north of Srinagar, according to one of the officials. Another three were killed in Batote, located on the highway connecting Jammu and Srinagar, Indian defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand said.

India’s crackdown as it revoked Kashmir’s special status was accompanied by severe restrictions on movement, as well as disconnection of telephone services. Though New Delhi has eased some of the movement curbs, no prominent detainees have been freed and mobile and internet connections remain suspended.

While warning of the consequences of lifting what he described as an ‘inhuman curfew,’ Pakistani PM Khan demanded India do so and free all detainees.

In some areas in Kashmir — including the Soura region near Srinagar which has witnessed protests in the past against India’s decision — people clashed with security forces by pelting stones on Friday night, forcing police to use tear gas to disperse them, said the Indian official.

Khan addressed the United Nations a day after the senior US diplomat for South Asia called for a lowering of rhetoric between India and Pakistan, while saying that Washington hoped to see rapid action by India to lift restrictions it has imposed in Kashmir and the release of detainees there.

In a fiery speech lasting 50 minutes, Khan said India could unleash a ‘bloodbath’ in the Muslim-majority territory, as the nuclear-armed rivals took centre stage at the UN General Assembly.

His heated rhetoric stood in stark contrast to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s address an hour earlier, when the Hindu nationalist leader touted domestic successes but made only an oblique reference to terrorism, taken to mean Pakistan.

Khan warned there could be a repeat of the fighting between the regional rivals seen in February if India blamed his country for a homegrown militant attack in response to the crackdown.

‘If a conventional war starts between the two countries, anything could happen. But supposing a country seven times smaller than its neighbour is faced with the choice: either you surrender, or you fight for your freedom till death,’ Khan said.

‘What will we do? I ask myself these questions. We will fight ... and when a nuclear-armed country fights to the end, it will have consequences far beyond the borders,’ warned Khan, whose speech was punctuated by applause, mainly by the Pakistani delegation but at times others. 

The 66-year-old Pakistani leader also accused Indian forces of preparing for a genocide once the curfew was eventually lifted.

‘There are 900,000 troops there, they haven’t come to, as Narendra Modi says — for the prosperity of Kashmir,’ Khan said. ‘These 900,000 troops, what are they going to do? When they come out?

‘There will be a bloodbath,’ Khan said.

India has not stated the number of troops in Kashmir, but Khan’s 900,000 figure would be the equivalent of two-thirds of the Indian army.

India accuses Pakistan of arming, funding and training militants in Kashmir and says it has taken action to preserve calm.

‘Free Kashmir, End the Siege,’ read banners during the pro-Pakistan demonstration, while on the pro-Modi side protesters held up placards hailing the Indian leader as a ‘visionary’ and saying, ‘Pakistan, what about your minorities?’

Rozeena Khan, a teacher originally from Indian Kashmir, said she could not speak to her 86-year-old father and was concerned for his welfare.

‘Kashmir is a prison, the world’s largest prison right now,’ she said.

‘I feel like my brain, my heart, is with my family there. I should concentrate on my job but I will tell you honestly, sometimes when I think, I cry at my job, I cry.’

Khan said that the conditions in Kashmir were radicalising a new generation and that he himself would take up arms in their situation.

‘I’ve been locked up for 55 days, I’ve heard about rapes, Indian army going in homes,’ he said, imagining himself as a Kashmiri.

‘Would I want to live this humiliation? Would I want to live like that? I would pick up a gun. You’re forcing people. You are forcing people into radicalisation.’

Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief’s spokesman, later told reporters Antonio Guterres had raised his concerns over Kashmir both publicly and privately and favoured dialogue.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net