SRINAGAR, Feb 6 (2003) – Indian police fired tear gas in Kashmir’s main city on Thursday to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding the return of the remains of a separatist leader hanged and buried in a New Delhi jail 19 years ago.
Protesters carrying photographs of the executed separatist, Maqbool Bhat, threw stones at police who fired scores of tear gas shells in response, police said.
“Return the mortal remains of Mohammad Maqbool Bhat,” the protesters shouted.
The clash continued for an hour but police said there were no reports of injuries.
Police said they detained Mohammad Yasin Malik, chairman of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), who led the protesters in the heart of Srinagar.
Bhat, the founder of the JKLF, was hanged in New Delhi’s Tihar jail on February 11, 1984, on a charge of killing an Indian intelligence officer. His body was buried in the jail.
Five year’s after Bhat was executed Muslim rebels launched an insurgency against Indian security forces in the Muslim-majority Himalayan region.
The bloodshed has continued ever since.
Indian officials say more than 38,000 people have been killed. Separatists put the toll at more than 85,000.
“The unfortunate homeland is desperately waiting to conceal its proud son in its bosom and give him an honourable burial,” the group said in a statement. “Will the world awake?” the group asked.
The JKLF declared a ceasefire with India in 1994 and says it is fighting politically for the independence of Kashmir from both India and Pakistan.
Separatist violence has continued unabated despite a November state assembly election that brought to power a new government promising to bring peace to the region.
India alleges that Muslim Pakistan has been arming and training the Kashmiri guerrillas since 1989, when separatists launched a rebellion against New Delhi’s rule. Pakistan denies the charge.
