Kashmiris defy curfew after boy killed

THOUSANDS of angry residents defied a curfew in the Indian portion of Kashmir on Tuesday, protesting the overnight killing of an 11-year-old boy by government forces, reports Aijaz Hussain of The Canadian Press.

Fifteen people were wounded in the southern town of Anantnag late Monday when government forces shot into a crowd despite an appeal last week from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that they use non-lethal measures to control the demonstrations that have become a near daily occurrence in the volatile region.

At least 65 people have died in anti-India demonstrations and clashes between security forces and protesters in Kashmir since June. Each death has triggered more protests despite a rigid curfew in the Kashmir valley.

Anger against Indian rule runs deep in the region, which is divided between Hindu-majority India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan and claimed by both nuclear-armed nations in its entirety.

The latest deadly unrest against Indian rule shows no signs of abating despite the deployment of thousands of troops.

Thousands of residents marched in Anantnag early Tuesday within hours of the death of the young boy.

Police and paramilitary soldiers fired warning shots and tear gas to quell the protests, wounding three people, said a police officer on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.

In Srinagar, the region's main city, hundreds of men, women and children also held angry protests. They chanted "Go India, go back" and "We want freedom."

Police and paramilitary soldiers withdrew from the area to avoid clashes but sealed off the streets with razor wire and steel barricades.

Azadi! Kashmiri women take to the streets

WOMEN are playing an incrasing frontline role in the Kashmiri people's struggle for freedom.

Reports Soutik Biswas for the BBC: "Young and old, middle-class and poor, mostly dressed in floral tunics, they defy the armed forces, pelting stones at them, shouting slogans and singing anti-India songs. When night falls, some of them even lead protests with their children."

Firdousi Farooq became involved after her 14-year-old son was murdered by Indian state forces who claimed the studious youngster was a "miscreant who was part of an unlawful assembly".

She said: "Why should I not protest? Why should I not pick up a stone? I am doing this in the honour of my martyred son. I am doing this for azadi (freedom) from subjugation and repression."

Adds Zaitun Khan, a young woman whose brother was murdered by state forces whole on his way to work: "I will go and join the protests now. He never protested or threw a stone in his life. But he died. How many more men will have to die? I want to go out and protest and demand freedom. Freedom to live."

The report explains this is not the first time that women in Kashmir have come out in droves to protest, but their numbers and impact appear to be greater than ever before.

"This time the intensity of protests by women is more. You can also see more women protesting. Women have borne the brunt of the Kashmir conflict, and it is not surprising that they are at the end of their tether," says Kashmiri journalist Afsana Rashid.

As Bashir Ahmed Dabla, who teaches sociology at Kashmir University says, Kashmir's women have "seen their children husbands and fathers being killed in the conflict, and routinely humiliated by the security forces".

"Women have been compelled to come out and protest because of the injustice and repression," says Professor Dabla.

Naxalites back Kashmiri resistance

NAXALITE rebels in India are giving their moral upport to the Kashmiri resistance against the Indian state machine.

Reports The Times of India: "In a scathing criticism on the role of the central and state governments, the Naxals have claimed that the enemy was the same, be it at Dandakaranya or Kashmir.

"Through a two-page release, the rebels have extended their 'revolutionary salute' or Inquilabi salaam to the Kashmiri protesters fighting for their rights. The Maoists were critical of the use of force by the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government to crush the resistance of the people.

"The CC, along with the people's army and other revolutionary outfits, has vowed to continue supporting the valley protesters.

"The naxals dramatically equated the stone throwing youths of Kashmir to the bow-and-arrow equipped tribals of Dandakaranya. The CC 'believes that the Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris'. It has also appealed to all to support the 'just national liberation struggle of the people of Kashmir'.

"The CC has lashed out at the media for distorting Kashmir's history. Naxals have also urged citizens across the length and breadth of the country to raise their voice against the 'heartless killing of youth' by the security forces.

"They have also made an appeal to the activists and right bodies to demand the withdrawal of the forces from Kashmir. The rebels had made a similar demand several times in the Dandakaranya region in the past too."