Kashmiris protest "atrocities" on human rights day
Source: Reuters
(Adds shooting in paragraphs 6 and 7) SRINAGAR, India, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Police in Indian Kashmir on Sunday detained at least 30 people protesting against alleged human rights violations by Indian security forces in the Himalayan region, police and witnesses said. Over 300 members of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, most with black cloth covering their mouths, marched in Srinagar, Kashmir's capital, to mark International Human Rights Day. "Atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir have increased rapidly despite the fake slogan of 'zero tolerance' by the prime minister of India," JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik said in an open letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Earlier this year, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed "zero tolerance" of misconduct and rights violations by troops. The protesters -- who carried placards that read "Oh! World conscience wake up, stop human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir" -- dispersed as police moved in. Separately, about 3,000 took to the streets near Qazigund in south Kashmir after a soldier shot and wounded a shopkeeper. Police said Manzoor Ahmad, 24, was shot accidentally but an eyewitness told Reuters members of an army patrol fired at Ahmad, who was stable in hospital, as they frisked him. Human Rights Watch said in September Indian forces still carry out extra-judicial killings, torture and disappearances, while Muslim militants massacre civilians and kill politicians in a region torn by 17 years of anti-India revolt. India denies any systematic abuses in the region and says it punishes those found guilty. The JKLF declared a ceasefire against Indian security forces in 1994 and wants independence both from India and Pakistan, both of which claim the region in full. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir after simmering discontent against New Delhi's rule in Indian Kashmir erupted into a violent revolt by militants at the end of 1989.
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