A meeting of the Indian government and opposition parties to resolve spiralling protests in held Kashmir ended in a deadlock on Wednesday, even as four more protesters were killed in police clashes. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting came two days after 18 people were killed in the worst single episode of violence in two decades of Kashmiris' struggle against Indian occupation and are the latest in a three-month long series of protests.
Four more protesters killed in held Kashmir The meeting failed to agree on a partial lifting of a widely-hated law that gives the army immunity from prosecution in case of civilian killings in the region. The only decision taken was to send a delegation of politicians to held Kashmir. Another 40 people were injured in the latest round of protests, in the Mendhar area of Poonch, a district which has rarely seen demonstrations, about 120 km (75 miles) south of held Srinagar.
Nearly 90 people have been killed so far in police firing. The deaths add pressure on the 77-year-old Singh, criticised as being out of touch for failing to treat the protests seriously, underscoring policy limbo in New Delhi that may spill over into tension with Pakistan, which claims the region.
"Obviously it's a deadlock," said Ajai Sahni, head of the Institute for Conflict Management think tank. "But then what did you expect? Nothing could have come out of it. Is there anything they could have said that would make people say let's end this?" The government has largely painted the protesters as inspired by militant groups but Singh on Wednesday appeared to signal a slight shift in opinion, hinting that some of the demonstrators may be inspired by local grievances. "While some of these protests may have been impulsive or spontaneous, it cannot be denied that some incidents were orchestrated by certain groups," Singh said.
"What we have seen over the past three months must persuade us to reflect and deliberate on the way forward. We have to talk to each other." Syed Ali Shah Geelani denounced the outcome of the meeting as "cosmetic," and called for Indian troops to leave the state. "We will intensify our struggle if India does not accept our demands," the hard-line leader said. The main opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party reiterated its stand of opposing autonomy for the state or diluting the law on immunity for occupation forces.
NO MOVE ON SPECIAL ARMY POWERS The Armed Forces Special Powers Act gives occupation forces sweeping powers to shoot, arrest, search and detain people in battling the insurgency in held Kashmir.
The law is widely hated by Kashmiris and is blamed in part for fuelling anti-India sentiment in the Muslim-majority valley, but the Indian army says it is needed for effective operations. Militant attacks, which first broke out in 1989, have declined considerably. But in the last two years street protests have mushroomed as many young Kashmiris have grown increasingly angry at living in one of the world's most militarised regions.
While a previous generation of Kashmiris often embraced militancy, a new generation has used street protests, Facebook and mobile phones to spread revolt, mindful of how violence and an army backlash led to more than 47,000 deaths after 1989. But the protesters face a government that has placed little priority on finding a solution to Kashmir. Once a central issue to relations with Pakistan, it has lost some regional weight to the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan's own militant problems.
The international community, including the United States, has largely been silent over the deaths of many unarmed protesters. Kashmir is not a huge electoral issue for many Indians and the controversy is unlikely to sway voters in any particular way ahead of a host of state elections in the coming year.
Comments
Comments are closed.