Indian forces gas funeral of boy, 16, in Kashmir

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Indian-held Kashmir

At least 35 people were wounded when Indian forces attacked the funeral procession of a 16-year-old boy in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-held Kashmir, on Saturday, witnesses said.

Qaisar Ahmad Sofi died in hospital Friday evening. He went missing on Oct. 27 and was found unconscious the following day. His family claimed he was abducted, tortured and poisoned by Indian security forces. The police denied the claims and said he consumed poison himself.

Early Saturday, mourners chanting pro-independence and anti-India slogans were taking his body to be buried when they were targeted with tear gas by security forces.

“There was a huge presence of police and paramilitary [troops] on the roads and they fired tear smoke shells and pellets at the mourners,” Irshad Nabi, a resident of the city’s Safa Kadal neighborhood, said.

“They do not even let us bury our dead,” one protestor said. “Then there were clashes between the mourners and the Indian forces.”

Regular protests against Indian rule have been held since July 8, when a Kashmiri militant commander was killed by security forces. More than 100 civilians have been killed by Indian forces and around 10,000 wounded since then, according to the region’s health department.

Police have said 7,000 have been arrested for participating in demonstrations against Indian rule.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is divided between India and Pakistan, which both claim the territory. The two countries have fought three wars since partition in 1947, two over Kashmir.

Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups have been fighting for independence or for unification with Pakistan. More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict, mostly by Indian security forces.