Indian Troops Kill 32 in Separatist Kashmir

Indian security forces fired on Muslim demonstrators in the Kashmir Valley on Friday, killing at least 32 people in an escalation of violence between the government and Muslim secessionists.

Despite an army curfew here, Kashmiris marched to protest the army’s siege of a shrine in Srinagar where a group of militant secessionists has taken refuge. In Srinagar and outlying towns, Indian soldiers and paramilitary police fired on the marchers, attacked demonstrators with batons and blanketed many neighborhoods with tear gas.

It was the strongest use of force since the army siege started a week ago. The standoff has refocused world attention on the 3 1/2-year-old Kashmir conflict, which has killed thousands of civilians and carries a risk of an Indian-Pakistani war. India’s Muslim neighbor, Pakistan, supports the Kashmiri separatist cause and the two nations--which now possess nuclear-arms capability--have fought three wars since their independence 45 years ago.

The conflict is centered on the Hazratbal shrine, which is held sacred by Kashmir’s mainly Muslim population because it houses what is said to be a hair from the beard of Islam’s founder, the prophet Mohammed. Separatists occupied the mosque, and India last week sent troops to oust them and imposed curfews on towns in the Kashmir Valley.

In the streets of Srinagar--many of whose buildings are blackened and scarred by fires and bombings of the last several months--crowds of protesters taunted Indian troops. They played a violent game of cat and mouse with security forces, hurling stones at them and then dashing into back alleys as troops charged at the crowds.

The most serious clash reportedly occurred in the town of Bijbehara, 35 miles south of Srinagar, where unconfirmed police accounts said between 22 and 40 people were killed when security forces fired at demonstrators. The accounts said about 100 people were injured.

Six people were killed in Srinagar, two of them from gunfire at the day’s largest rally, when up to 20,000 reportedly gathered for afternoon prayers at the Pathar Masjid in downtown Srinagar, several miles from the Hazratbal shrine, according to city police.

Local residents regularly express hatred for the security forces, which they accuse of torturing and killing innocent civilians in their searches for militants. Such accusations have been echoed by human rights groups such as the U.S.-based organization, Asia Watch.

Security forces appeared to stage some of their shows of force and harassment of local citizens for the benefit of journalists on an officially sanctioned bus tour.