By Zahid Rafiq
SRINAGAR, Indian-held Kashmir (AA) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dismissed month-long protests in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) as being caused by a “handful of people who have been misled.”
Modi was speaking for the first time since the beginning of deadly clashes that have seen at least 57 Kashmiri civilians shot dead by Indian forces.
“It is sad that boys who should be holding laptops, cricket bats have been handed stones in their hands,” Modi said during a rally in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state on Tuesday. “Every Indian loves Kashmir. The freedom that every Indian has also belongs to every Kashmiri. We want the same bright future for every youth in Kashmir.”
At least 5,000 Kashmiris have also been injured according to government figures, while doctors say around 200 have been partially or fully-blinded by metal pellets fired by Indian forces to disperse protesters.
Most of the civilians killed and wounded are aged between 14 and 27, according to doctors at several hospitals in the regional capital Srinagar, who could not be named because they were not cleared to speak to the media.
According to the Inspector General of Police Javed Mujtaba Geelani, more than 1,000 youth have been arrested over the past month but sources in the police said almost double that number have actually been arrested and mostly charged with “waging war against the [Indian] State.”
Modi skirted around the issue of the month-long shutdown and widespread protests, instead focusing on how his government sought to solve “all problems through development.”
“Whatever Kashmiris want for betterment of their livelihood, the Centre will help. We want development for Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Be it the J&K government under Mehbooba Mufti or the central government, we are finding solution to all problems through development,” Modi said.
Mehbooba Mufti, Chief Minister of the J&K state government, met on Monday with Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi.
Afterwards she dismissed the protests in the Kashmir valley as part of a pattern of unrest that has intermittently affected the disputed region since 2008 but said previous Indian governments have failed to deliver on promises for the region.
“I hope the current situation, unlike the past, could be used as an opportunity to reach out to the people in Jammu and Kashmir through tangible confidence building initiatives and provide the much-needed healing touch to them to tide over the trust-deficit,” she said.
Since the start of the unrest, India has bolstered its already heavy armed presence in Indian-held Kashmir by rushing in paramilitary troops while local media have reported the army has taken control of some of the most troubled areas and stretches of important highways.
Both a government-imposed curfew and protest shutdown called by the pro-Independence leadership have remained in place with government offices, businesses and school staying closed and public transport cancelled. Mobile phone and Internet connections also continue to be restricted.
The unrest was sparked on July 8 by the killing of 21-year-old militant commander Burhan Wani in a gun-battle with Indian forces on July 8, whose funeral was attended by around 200,000 people.
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.
