Muslims protest in Kashmir on India's independence day

by Amy Judd | August 15, 2008 at 09:56 am

2458 views | 21 Recommendations | 10 comments

Today marks India's Independence Day from British rule, and thousands of Muslims protested today about New Delhi's rule in Kashmir, with some even burning the national flag.

Srinagar and other parts of the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley have recently been rocked by some of the biggest protests since an anti-India insurgency erupted in 1989.

Street battles this week have left at least 22 dead -- all of them Muslim youths -- and hundreds injured in police firings.

On Friday, thousands of Muslim separatists -- whose leaders called for a boycott of India's independence celebrations -- waved black flags as they marched through Srinagar, chanting "We want freedom" and "Kashmir is ours".

Thousands of worshippers emerged from the city's main mosque after Friday prayers and burnt several Indian flags, witnesses said.

The rally came despite tight security in the city, where a curfew was lifted after four days. A general strike emptied roads and closed shops.

There were no reports of disruption to official functions marking India's 1947 independence, which sowed the seeds of the Kashmir dispute.

This unrest happened because of an incident in June when the Kashmir government decided to donate land to a Hindu shrine trust. The decision was later reversed, which angered Hindus who mostly live in that area.

Hindu extremists then began blocking the only road link to the Kashmir valley, sparking a fresh wave of protests in Muslim areas.

Many separatist groups have declared this day to be a blank day, and they carried black flags to showcase that.

But the BBC's Altaf Hussain in Srinagar says that there were no reports of disruption in functions organised by the government to celebrate the occasion.

The main ceremony was held at the Bakhshi Stadium in Srinagar where the state Governor, NN Vohra, took the salute at a march-past by the police and paramilitary soldiers.

Most residents of India, not involved in these protests seemed to have just stayed away from the celebrations altogether.

Most of the media reports differ as well on whether this is India's 61st Independence Day, or the 62nd.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised to tackle inflation and terrorism, and also to launch the nation's first lunar mission, to mark the celebration of the day.

Following recent bomb attacks in Bangalore and Ahmedabad and violent protests in northern Kashmir, thousands of security personnels surrounded the historic Red Fort where Singh unfurled the national flag to a 21-gun salute before addressing the nation.

Speaking on the occasion, Singh said the present government, when it came to power, had no promises to make but "promises to keep."

Singh just wants peace and prosperity to prevail.

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Jarrett Martineau

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:07 on August 15th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. Are there any photos of these events available?

René

at 12:21 on August 15th, 2008

If everybody but Muslims stayed home, then the protestors are probably not representative of most in Kashmir.

Rhonda J Mangus

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:55 on August 15th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Barry ORegan

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:18 on August 15th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

@k@sh

at 19:08 on August 15th, 2008

India Celebrating Independence Day.

@k@sh has contributed a photo to this story.

skavuri

at 20:22 on August 15th, 2008

skavuri has contributed a photo to this story.

René

at 21:58 on August 15th, 2008

Wikipedia: Kashmir: According to 2001 Census of India,[22] the total population of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir was 10,143,700. Of these, 6,793,240 (66.97%) were Muslims; 3,005,349 (29.63%) were Hindus; 207,154 (2.04%) were Sikhs; and 113,787 (1.12%) were Buddhists.

According to political scientist Alexander Evans, approximately 95% of the total population of 160,000-170,000 of Kashmir Brahmins, also called Kashmiri Pandits, (i.e. approximately 150,000 to 160,000) left the Kashmir Valley in 1990 as militant violent engulfed the state.[23] According to an estimate by the Central Intelligence Agency, about 100,000 Kashmiri Pandits from the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir have been internally displaced due to the ongoing violence.[24]

René

at 22:31 on August 15th, 2008

Kashmir Information Network:

Paradise Turned into Hell Cradled in the lap of majestic mountains of the Himalayas, Kashmir is the most beautiful place on earth. On visiting the Valley of Kashmir, Jehangir, one of the Mughal emperors, is said to have exclaimed: "If there is paradise anywhere on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here."

And, till very, very recent times it was paradise on earth. But now the paradise has been turned into hell.

With the emergence of Islamic fundamentalism all over the world, this theo-fascist brand of political philosophy accompanied by hatred, intolerance, and terrorism was pushed into and peddled in the peaceful valley by Pakistan. And now the rapture of birdsong and murmur of gentle streams of yesteryears is replaced by the misery of physical and psychic violence instigated by the terrorists.

This website will show you a glimpse of the history, culture, and the current plight of Kashmiri Pandits. You will understand the goals of the bigoted religious terrorists in Kashmir whose vision of Azadi (independence) is to use religious dogma to exclude women, religious minorities, and secular-minded people from every kind of freedom in social and political life. After centuries of decimation of our population within Kashmir valley, the 1990 pogrom by Islamic terrorists and their supporters against us was the final act that expelled almost the entire remaining 400,000 strong population of Kashmiri Pandits - something that has unfortunately gone largely unreported in the Western press. These Pandits are at present living as refugees in their own country.

Samuelraj

at 01:35 on August 16th, 2008

Hi, I driving past and i noticed that it was not the usual flag hoisting but, alll the staff, the food court team and the security associates were marching towards the flag which was not a normal. Couple of security stopped the traffic and the National Anthem was sung.They had the poise and greeted with a warm welcome with Ladoos even to the passerby like me.

Samuelraj has contributed a photo to this story.

vimuk_in

at 07:17 on August 20th, 2008

Its a pic of a little girl holding up the triclour. Actually was at my home when I went up to the roof to join the Independence day celebrations. This girl was fluttering the flag around and thus I captured it.

vimuk_in has contributed a photo to this story.