Three Troops Killed in Skirmish as Kashmir Marks Anniversary

• Supreme Court reviewing legality of government’s actions.
• Civil rights restricted, protests and media reporting limited.
• Local leaders face imprisonment for attempting to protest.

Three troops were killed during a skirmish with insurgents in India-held Kashmir as the disputed territory observed the fourth anniversary of New Delhi installing direct administration.

Police reported on Saturday that an army patrol seeking for armed Kashmiris in the forests of Halan in the southern valley clashed with fighters late Friday night, injuring three people in the exchange of fire.

“The three personnel were injured and later died,” police said on Twitter.

A search operation was underway to locate the Kashmiri insurgents.

Clashes between Kashmiris and government forces have drastically decreased since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government terminated the restive Muslim-majority region’s limited autonomy in August 2019.

In contrast to the government’s assumption that the move would bring peace and development to the troubled region, approximately 900 people have died in the last four years, including 144 members of India’s security services.

Since the beginning of the year, at least 63 persons have been slain, including nine civilians, 16 government officers, and 38 Kashmiri fighters.

Young men continue to join Kashmiri organisations that have been calling for and fighting for the region’s independence or merger with Pakistan for decades.

The Supreme Court of India is currently considering whether Modi’s government behaved legitimately when it suspended occupied Kashmir’s constitutionally mandated semi-autonomy.

Since then, the contested territory has seen a significant reduction in civil rights, with limitations on protests and journalists reporting official harassment. Several local Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders were imprisoned overnight after authorities denied them permission to protest the anniversary of the 2019 decision on Saturday.

“All of this is being done to deceive the country’s public opinion,” PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said on Twitter, with video of a party official being held by police.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed throughout Srinagar’s commercial districts on Saturday to maintain calm during the occasion.

During protests, city shops in Srinagar frequently close as a show of solidarity. However, two members of commercial associations representing the city’s shops, who requested anonymity, told AFP that police had orally instructed retailers to remain open throughout the day.

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