More deaths in Kashmir as protestors rebel

18th September 2010

Three Kashmiri separatists protesting ongoing resentment over Indian rule in Kashmir have been shot dead by military and police forces. Many more were injured during the curfew that has dominated the region for the last six days.

With the death toll rising in the area, one of the biggest question marks over the incidents is the use of live ammunition by Indian government controlled troops and police to control protestors that are largely unarmed, but for a few with gravel and rocks. Do peaceful protests and flying stones from the roadside really need to be met with deadly force?

Indian spokesmen have called upon the separatist leaders to withdraw their support for continued protests outside the military camps in the area, but surely India remembers a time when it was them, led by Ghandi, who stood up to guns and bullets. If the Indian government wants to prevent passions flaring further, surely they need to stop using live ammunition as a method of quelling unrest.

Perhaps if there were more movement on the diplomatic front in the area and less killings then things would start to quieten down on their own accord. Televised debates between the apposing government and separatist factions, along with administering more control of the area to a regionally elected constituency (similar to devolution in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland in the UK) could perhaps be explored before bullets are reloaded and more people are killed. While these are ideas, and not solutions, maybe it is ideas that the region needs right now.