[A
violent secession movement arose in the late 1980s, with many guerrilla
fighters crossing the border from Pakistan India Kashmir Valley
By Sameer Yasir and Ellen Barry
 |
An
Indian soldier took pictures of a damaged house in
a
militant had hidden on Saturday before dying in a gunfight.
Credit
Dar Yasin/Associated Press
|
TRAL,
Kashmir —
Protests erupted across southern Kashmir
on Saturday after Indian forces killed a militant who led an insurgent network
and commanded a loyal following among local youths.
Early
on Saturday, after Indian troops had surrounded the two-story house where the
militant, Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, was hiding, several hundred villagers charged the
site, apparently hoping that Mr. Bhat would escape amid the confusion, but they
were repelled by tear gas and sprays of birdshot, witnesses said.
“We
will always try to stop the Indian forces from killing our brothers who are
fighting for us,” said Irshad Malik, 29, who was being treated for a wound sustained
in the clash.
One
other militant was also killed in the fighting, and a civilian who was wounded
in the crossfire died at a hospital, the Kashmiri police said in a statement.
The
killing of Mr. Bhat, 26, the leader of Hizbul Mujahedeen, was a “great
achievement” for Indian forces, said Manoj Pandit, a spokesman for the Kashmiri
police.
“We
were waiting for this for a long time,” Mr. Pandit said. “He was not a normal
militant.”
A
large area of Kashmir was absorbed into India India Pakistan
A
violent secession movement arose in the late 1980s, with many guerrilla
fighters crossing the border from Pakistan India Kashmir Valley
In
recent years, Kashmir ’s militant leaders have begun to publicize
their activities over social media, pulling more and more young people into
their orbit.
Mr.
Bhat, a burly man with a thick beard, had made his name among other young
fighters by once snatching a rifle from an Indian soldier during a protest.
The
police say he played a role in persuading his friend and predecessor, Burhan
Muzaffar Wani, to publish his own image and name on social media sites, departing
from a long tradition among insurgents of maintaining their anonymity.
After
Mr. Wani, 22, was killed in a raid by security forces last July, Mr. Bhat
filled the leadership vacuum within Hizbul Mujahedeen.
His
father, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, said he had no hope of dissuading his son and his
friends, who he said were “fighting the state because they believe in it, and
want India Kashmir .”
“He
was a not a child I could have kept inside the house,” Mr. Bhat said. “This is
the end of his life as he chose it.”
He
added, “He died for it, and I have no regret.”
Mr.
Wani’s killing last year set off months of violence between the police and
young people in Kashmir , including protests that swelled into the
tens of thousands, bombings, shootouts and nightly attacks by stone-throwing
demonstrators.
On
Saturday, as word spread that Mr. Bhat had been killed, protests erupted in
most districts in Kashmir , and members of the security forces were
pelted with stones. Indian troops were deployed along the national highway in
an effort to keep it open.
The
police estimate that Hizbul Mujahedeen has a network of about 200 guerrilla
fighters, half of them young men from local villages. In an interview last year,
Shridhar Patil, who commands the regional police in the Kulgam district, said
the militants were “adored” by young Kashmiris in search of a “good role model.”
Early
in his tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India Pakistan Kashmir . But cease-fire violations along the Line of
Control have occurred frequently, and a chill has settled in between the
neighbors, dampening expectations for the resumption of talks any time soon.
Sameer
Yasir reported from Tral, and Ellen Barry from New Delhi
