24 August 2016•Update: 24 August 2016
By Zahid Rafiq
SRINAGAR, Indian-held Kashmir
Amid seven weeks of pro-independence protests, Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited the Indian-held Kashmir region on Wednesday.
One civilian was killed by gunfire and over 40 more wounded by Indian forces in southern Kashmir that morning, fueling more intense protests.
According to residents of Pinglan village in Pulwama, 20-year-old Amir Ahmad Mir was killed by Indian troops who also vandalized a large tent erected for a pro-independence meeting and beat up local volunteers.
One resident, Asif Ahmad Sofi, told Anadolu Agency: “There were huge protests afterwards and clashes with the Indian soldiers who used their usual guns, pellet guns and tear-gas shells.
The dead man had been wounded previously in February, forcing doctors to remove his spleen after he was hit by buckshot used by Indian forces in Kashmir as ‘non-lethal weapons’ to quell disturbances.
A doctor at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency: “He succumbed to his injuries soon after he was brought to the hospital. His body and organs were perforated with hundreds of pellets.”
At least 68 civilians have been killed and over 6,000 wounded, according to government figures, in firing by the Indian forces since pro-independence protests started on July 8.
According to police, 16 Indian armed personnel were also wounded in a militant attack on Wednesday afternoon. Police said that a grenade was thrown in Pulwama, 35 kilometers [22 miles] from Srinagar.
Ministerial visit
Meanwhile, the Indian Home Minister arrived in the region on a two-day visit.
“I will be staying at the Nehru Guest House. Those who believe in Kashmiriyat [Kashmiriness], Insaniyat [humanity] and Jamhooriyat [democracy] are welcome,” Singh tweeted ahead of his visit.
However, the region has almost no access to the Internet as cellular services have been suspended for a seventh week.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full.
The two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.
Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in IHK have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict so far, most of them by the Indian armed forces. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed regions.
