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Thousands protest deaths blamed on army in Kashmir


By Aijaz Hussain
The Associated Press
updated 11:53 a.m. ET Feb. 21, 2009

SRINAGAR, India - Thousands of angry villagers protested in India's portion of Kashmir on Saturday, accusing the army of fatally shooting two men and critically wounding another, police and residents said.

Men in combat gear fired at a vehicle in Bumai village on Saturday evening, critically wounding all three passengers, said B. Srinivas, inspector general of police. Two of them died en route to a hospital, Srinivas said. Bumai lies 38 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir.

Local residents blamed the army, and as news of the killings spread to the nearby town of Sopore, thousands of people took to streets chanting slogans against India and its military, and demanding independence for the Himalayan region. An estimated 700,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in Kashmir.

There were some reports of stone throwing. Srinivas said police were trying to pacify the protesters.

"Army soldiers indiscriminately fired on the vehicle," said Firdous Ahmed, who lives in Bumai, told The Associated Press by phone. He did not elaborate.

The Indian army was investigating the incident, army spokesman Col. D.K. Kachari said.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but they both claim it in its entirety. They have fought two wars over the region.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Jammu-Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state. A dozen militant groups have been fighting since 1989 for independence from mainly Hindu India, or a merger with Muslim Pakistan.

The uprising and a subsequent Indian crackdown have killed more than 68,000 people, most of them civilians.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29315473/
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