Violent protests in Kashmir enter second day

Violent clashes between the Indian police and stone pelting demonstrators continued for the second consecutive Thursday at several places in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir following the killing of a youth by government forces. According to the local reports, authorities have imposed strict curfew in parts of the volatile Himalayan region to thwart stone pelting youth from occupying major streets even as mobile phone service and internet remain jammed. The protests erupted when Tahir Ahmad Sofi, 24, according to the eyewitnesses, was shot dead by the army in north Kashmir's Baramulla town earlier on Tuesday (March 5). Following the incident, tension gripped Kashmir with the eruption of sporadic violent protests. On Thursday, angry demonstrators, predominantly youth, protesting the killing defied security restrictions and clashed with the police and paramilitary forces by pelting stones in many areas of Kashmir including the summer capital Srinagar. Police statement released to media said a vehicle was burnt down by the demonstrators in south Kashmir's Awantipore area even as intense clashes were witnessed in Hyderpora and Batamaloo neighborhoods of Srinagar. The clashes have spiraled out across north and south Kashmir, according to local media reports. Since Wednesday, health officials told KUNA, more than 60 people, mostly youth, have sustained injuries. The police said sixteen of its members have also suffered injuries even as dozens of protesters have been detained during nocturnal raids. Earlier on Tuesday, the pro-India chief minister of the disputed region, Omar Abdullah, broke down in the state legislature over the killing and stressed that it was his often-repeated demand to revoke the controversial law- Armed Forced Special Powers Act (AFSPA)- which provides blanket immunity to the erring soldiers from being prosecuted. "I have to answer for every bullet they fire at civilians. What replies do I give to my people," Abdullah asked, adding: "This is why I stress on the partial revocation of AFSPA... Is this why we have been holding up the national flag? Why, for what, and for whom?" But on Thursday, ruling party Congress' spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit told reporters in New Delhi that armed forces and other authorities who are directly connected with dealing with issues of JK have said that this is not the right time to repeal AFSPA. "And we (Congress) stand by that," Dikshit said. The rights group in the region has long demanded the end of the controversial law which empowers government soldiers' to shoot, arrest or search homes with impunity from local laws. Even as police have booked the army officer allegedly involved in the firing incident the protests aren't subsiding. Kashmir remains divided by a de facto border 'Line of Control' into Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir since 1947. In the Indian portion, an armed rebellion that broke out in 1989 to end New Delhi's rule has already claimed over 70,000 lives, according to one estimate. India accuses Pakistan of fueling unrest in the Muslim-majority Kashmir-a charge Pakistan denies. The valley on the boil after Mohammad Afzal Guru, a former Kashmiri rebel, was hanged to death for his involvement in 2001 Indian parliament attack on Feb 9 this year. But majority of Kashmiri people, separatists, and even pro-India leaders in Kashmir believe Guru did not get a fair trial and was executed for "political reasons". The separatist have formed an alliance demanding return of the mortals of Guru- who was buried in India's Tihar Jail in New Delhi after his hanging. Every week, separatists issue protest calendars urging people to observe shutdowns, marches and protests.