Kashmiris Recount Brutality by Indian Forces

Date: 10 September 2019 - 21:39

News ID: ۷۰۲۹۷

SRINAGAR (AFP) -- Burhan Nazir Parrey, 16, had a gaping wound in his shoulder the size of a cricket ball, the latest victim of what Kashmiris say is indiscriminate brutality by Indian forces.
He is one of the lucky ones. Locals accuse Indian security forces of being responsible for four deaths since New Delhi stripped Kashmir of its autonomy and imposed a crippling lockdown on August 5.
Parrey told AFP that he went out for a walk with a friend on the evening of August 6 and turning a corner ran into members of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
One put the barrel of a pellet-firing shotgun gun to his upper body and "fired a shell right into my right shoulder", the teenager said.
Then one of the soldiers "put his boot on my shoulder and pushed the shell further inside", he said. "Another tried to crush my neck. I thought they wanted to see me dead right there."
Only when some women started shouting did the soldiers leave and neighbors took Parrey to hospital.
According to his father Nazir Ahmad, doctors located "more than 400 pellets" in his torso. Medical records seen by AFP showed that "multiple pellets and one plastic canister" were removed.
CRPF Inspector General Zulfiqar Hassan said there was "no report or record of this incident" but would launch an inquiry -- if the boy filed a report.
Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since 1947. In the Indian-administered part, tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died in an insurgency -- that New Delhi blames on Islamabad -- since 1989.
India's national security advisor said on Saturday that apart from a "vocal minority" egged on by Pakistan, a "majority" of Kashmiris support its August 5 move.
However, and despite restrictions on movement that were reinforced this week, there have been hundreds of protests and stone-throwing incidents.
According to multiple sources, several thousand people have been detained. They include almost all the region's top politicians -- without charge.
The internet and mobile phones also remain cut off in the Kashmir Valley, the main trouble area. UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said Monday she is "deeply concerned".