Indian government resorts to armed repression in Kashmir, killing 21 and wounding hundreds

The largest number of killings, at least 20, occurred on Tuesday August 12, when police opened fire on angry demonstrators threatening to walk across the Line-of-Control to the Pakistani-occupied portion of the state as a way to circumvent the economic blockade. This was a desperate attempt to export fruit and other commodities using roads passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to other states in India.

The protests erupted after Hindu-communalist mobs, at the instigation of Indias opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), imposed an economic blockade on the state by occupying roads and bridges in Jammu, located in the southern portion of J&K. The Hindu mobs claimed to be protesting against the state governments decision to rescind its previous grant of land to a Hindu shrine board.

The road blockade not only resulted in shortages of food and medicine in the northern Kashmir valley, but has also prevented export of fruit from the state. Tourism and export of fruit form the backbone of states economic activities. As a result of the road blockade by Hindu-chauvinists, fruit has perished, creating untold economic hardship to fruit growers and workers in J&K.

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