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After violent clashes in Kashmir over the weekend, state university and colleges across the region will remain shut for at least two days, according to Indian government sources.
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Indian Army Uses Protester as Human Shield in Kashmir
Amid rising tension, the clashes between protesters and the Indian military forces continue to brew in the conflict-ridden area. Despite the closure of the educational institutes in the region, the All Jammu and Kashmir Students Union told the Indian Express Tuesday that they will continue with their protests.
“AJKSU today held peaceful protests in many places including Kashmir University, KU, and Banihal (on Srinagar-Jammu national highway) ... AJKSU is going to hold peaceful protests in the coming days as well until the genuine demands of the students are not fulfilled,” said the union statement.
According to Kashmiri Reader, hundreds of students in universities, colleges and higher secondary schools held massive protests today, with women students at Kashmir University, chanting pro-freedom slogans and demanding action against police brutality. But the students were not allowed to exit the campus residence.
Iqra Sidiq, a student at the local woman's college was in a critical condition after her skull was cracked opened when she was hit on the head by an alleged Central Reserve Police Force trooper, Kashmir Reader reported.
“We were walking peacefully until police came and asked us to continue peacefully as we were just girls in the procession. Suddenly a big stone came from the top of the CRPF camp which hit her on the head,” a student told the Kashmir Reader.
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Indian Army Uses Protester as Human Shield in Kashmir
Javid Ahmad, a relative of the injured girl said Sidiq was part of a small group of girls who were protesting peacefully when the stone was thrown at her. “We saw the procession. It was small and there were just girls in it. How can the government troops use force on them? What can we do now, she is critical,” he told the Kashmir Reader.
Over 50 students were injured during the clashes which have lasted over five days, the Kashmiri Reader reported. According to a local hospital, seven injured youth were admitted Monday, including Sidiq. Three of them were injured by pellets, two in the eye and one in the back, another was injured by a tear gas shell in the foot and some received stone injuries like Sidiq.
The deployment of Indian troops in the region continues to cause resentment and Kashmiri rebels have openly expressed an interest in the region's independence or an alliance with Pakistan since the early 1990s.
The Kashmir conflict is at the heart of tension between India and Pakistan. So far, two out of three wars the two neighboring countries have fought since their independence in 1947 have been over Kashmir. India continues to accuse Pakistan of training and arming rebel groups in the region to gain control, while Pakistan has continued to deny the claim.
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