Rage in Kashmir
Indian Army has been committing war crimes in the Occupied Kashmir. It is also using rape as a weapon of war to terrorize the Muslim majority there. Even simple protests by the locals is not tolerated by the occupation army.
Two men, Nayeem Ahmad and Muhammad Iqbal, were shot dead when a protest erupted on Tuesday following an allegation by local residents that an Indian army soldier tried to sexually assault a young woman in the town of Handwara in the Kupwara district of Indian-administered Kashmir.
"It started off with a small demonstration, and then hundreds of others joined. Protesters were demanding that the soldier [charged with sexually harassing a girl] be arrested and handed over to the people," Zulkarnain Banday, a cousin of victim Nayeem Ahmad, said.
"When they refused, the army opened fire and fired tear gas at the protesters. It was then that protesters tried to burn the bunker," Banday said from Handwara.
When Al Jazeera spoke to Banday, gunfire and screaming could still be heard in the background as running battles between protesters and police continued.
Human rights groups have for long accused the Indian military of using rape and sexual molestation to intimidate the local population.
"This is why people don't come forward with cases of sexual harassment and abuse, because this is how they are dealt with," Khurram Parvez, programme coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, told Al Jazeera.
Zulkarnain Banday said that it was unlikely that the Ahmad's family would file a complaint with the police.
"No one has any faith in the police or the system," Banday said.
Two men, Nayeem Ahmad and Muhammad Iqbal, were shot dead when a protest erupted on Tuesday following an allegation by local residents that an Indian army soldier tried to sexually assault a young woman in the town of Handwara in the Kupwara district of Indian-administered Kashmir.
"It started off with a small demonstration, and then hundreds of others joined. Protesters were demanding that the soldier [charged with sexually harassing a girl] be arrested and handed over to the people," Zulkarnain Banday, a cousin of victim Nayeem Ahmad, said.
"When they refused, the army opened fire and fired tear gas at the protesters. It was then that protesters tried to burn the bunker," Banday said from Handwara.
When Al Jazeera spoke to Banday, gunfire and screaming could still be heard in the background as running battles between protesters and police continued.
Human rights groups have for long accused the Indian military of using rape and sexual molestation to intimidate the local population.
"This is why people don't come forward with cases of sexual harassment and abuse, because this is how they are dealt with," Khurram Parvez, programme coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, told Al Jazeera.
Zulkarnain Banday said that it was unlikely that the Ahmad's family would file a complaint with the police.
"No one has any faith in the police or the system," Banday said.
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