Alwaght – Two young men were shot dead by Indian security forces in Kashmir, totaling the death toll at 79 people on the 64th day of protests in the region.
Indian forces shot a 25-year-old man with a tear gas shell during clashes in Tukroo village of Shopian. Identified as Sayar Ahmad Sheikh, he was declared dead on arrival at PHC Rajpora, said a doctor.
In another incident Yawar Ahmad, 18, was killed by security forces in Batengoo village of Anantnag district Saturday afternoon. Eyewitnesses and locals termed the killing as cold blooded murder, saying there were no protests or clashes in the area.
The recent protests began when Indian security forces raided a village and killed Burhan Muzzafar Wani, 22-year-old, whose videos posted on WhatsApp and Facebook attracted a vast following.
The Indian crackdown on recent protests, most violent since 2010, has claimed lives of 79 civilians and two security forces while a total of 11,500 others were also wounded. After four decades of political struggles and fights was deemed ineffective, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front launched an armed struggle against India, which became the excuse for the Indian forces’ invasion of Kashmir. In 2008 when the state government decided to sell a plot of land to non-resident Hindus for building a shrine, the big and peaceful people's defiance was met with bloody repression.
Also, in 2010 a year of turmoil ended with the death of 92 people in this region. According to Hindi sources the death toll from last two decade's disputes in Kashmir has topped 65,000.
