IHK remains tense as death toll reaches 45

Residents face shortage of drugs as parts of region remain under curfew for 11th day; security forces firing tear gas and pepper spray

SRINAGAR: Indian soldiers fired at a stone-throwing crowd defying curfew in held Kashmir, killing three more people, police said on Tuesday as unrest sparked by the death of a separatist militant flared.

The authorities have imposed a curfew in the Muslim-majority Kashmir for the last 11 days, blocked mobile phones and briefly ordered curbs on newspapers to stop people from gathering and control the worst outbreak of violence there in six years.

Late on Monday, protesters blocked a road and threw stones at an army convoy. “Some miscreants then tried to snatch weapons from the army and tried to set vehicles on fire,” a police spokesman said on Tuesday. The army opened fire after the protesters refused to heed warnings and two women were killed, the spokesman said.

A third person died in hospital on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 45 since protests erupted on July 9 over the killing of Burhan Wani, 22, a commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen. About 3,500 people have been hurt, many with eye injuries caused by pellets Indian forces have been firing from a non-lethal weapon. The injuries have fuelled anger. India’s Interior Minister Rajnath Singh said he had ordered the security forces to exercise restraint. He told the parliament he would visit Kashmir soon and hold talks with people “whose pain is being felt by every Indian”.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which has advocated a tough stand on Kashmir, sharesThe ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which has advocated a tough stand on Kashmir, shares power with a regional party in Held Kashmir and has been criticised for failing to address people’s grievances.

The publisher of Held Kashmir’s largest-circulation newspaper said the authorities had asked him to resume publication after the police seized newspapers over the weekend and shut down cable television, saying it was necessary to stop people from fomenting trouble. But Abdul Rashid Mukhdoomi, printer and publisher of Greater Kashmir, said he would meet other publishers to decide whether to resume publication under curfew.

Held Kashmir residents said on Tuesday they were facing shortages of prescription drugs, as parts of the region remained under curfew for the 11th day.As the overall death toll from days of violence rose to 45, shopkeepers warned supplies were running low because trucks were unable to reach them, while residents complained of being “caged” in their homes.

“People are suffering without medicines. A lot of people are struggling for medicines for diabetes, hypertension and anti-depressants,” said Nazir Ahmed who owns a pharmacy in the old part of Srinagar. With most vehicles ordered off the roads under the curfew, Ahmed said he walked five kilometres to a warehouse to buy medicines. “No fresh supplies are coming from outside. This will last two to three days for my neighbourhood,” Ahmed said, carrying plastic bags full of drugs.

Shops and other businesses have been shuttered under the curfew which the government says is needed to curb street clashes.An elderly woman suffering from hypertension and a heart condition said she hoped they would bring medicines soon. “I don’t have my medicines. Some volunteers came but they did not have the medicines I need,” Noora, 80, said from her doorstep. “We are just caged inside our home,” her son, Ghulam Nabi Ahangar, said.

Ahangar said the security forces were firing tear gas and pepper spray at night to deter people from venturing outside. “The poisonous gases stay inside our home and lungs the whole night. Our children are falling sick and cannot sleep,” he said.

“Patients who have not been able to reach hospitals will come in large numbers once the curfew is lifted. It will be another huge emergency,” said Kaisar Ahmed, head of Sri Maharaja Hari Singh and six other government hospitals in Srinagar.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent watchdog body, has called on the authorities in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir to stop harassing and obstructing the media and lift the ban on newspaper operations.

The police raided newspaper offices in Srinagar on July 16, halting printing presses and confiscating printed papers due for delivery and briefly detaining printing and delivery staff, according to news reports.

Publications including Greater Kashmir, Rising Kashmir, Daily Kashmir Images, Kashmir Observer and Kashmir Reader have been affected making it harder to access current and accurate information.

The Indian government should immediately lift its ban on newspaper operations and restore the free flow of information, Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator said in a statement.

The trade between the two sides of Kashmir - Muzaffarabad and Srinagar - has been suspended due to atrocities by the Indian forces.Dozens of passengers remained stranded across the Line of Control (LoC). Imtiaz Hashmi, a passenger said his family went to Held Kashmir to celebrate Eid with his relative but could not return owing to curfew and deteriorating law and order situation. He demanded the authorities to take steps to repatriate passengers stranded across the LoC.