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Dead Hurriyat leader mourned in Kashmir rally
Tens of thousands of Muslims have massed in India-administered Kashmir to pay homage to a separatist leader and 21 other protesters killed by police in protests over the past six weeks.Sheikh Aziz, a senior Kashmiri separatist leader, was killed when police opened fire this week in one of the biggest protests in the region in recent years. Mourners streamed in cars, buses and trucks into Pampore, Aziz's home town, on Saturday to take part in the outpouring of grief and anger. Protesters carried black and green flags and shouted: "We want freedom," "Indians go home" and "Kashmir is ours". Aziz was a leader of Kashmir's main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference. Security forces remained at a distance to avoid provoking further deadly clashes. Call for independence The weeks of demonstrations have been sparked by a row that pits Muslims in Kashmir against Hindus in Jammu, the two main regions which make up the Indian-controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir. A dispute over land allocated to Hindu pilgrims visiting a shrine in Kashmir has snowballed into fullscale anti-India protests, uniting separatists and reviving calls for Kashmiri independence. The crisis has also raised tensions with nuclear rival Pakistan. India has criticised Islamabad for interfering in its internal affairs by calling for UN intervention in the region that both claim in full but rule in parts. Posted by: Fred 2008-08-17 |
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