SRINAGAR, Feb. 10 (1990) – Eight bombs exploded today in this stronghold of Muslim militants seeking independence from India for Jammu and Kashmir state, the police said. No one was wounded.
Eight bombs exploded today in this stronghold of Muslim militants seeking independence from India for Jammu and Kashmir state, the police said. No one was wounded.
The police said the explosions, at two banks, a post office, shops and other businesses, occurred hours after fire swept through a shopping complex in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state.
No one took responsibilty for the explosions.
The police said they believed that the blaze was an accident, since it occurred before dawn while a curfew was in force.
Militants Are Suspected
But other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, asserted that the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front was responsible for the fire and the bombs. The militant group is leading a four-decade effort for the country’s only Muslim majority state to secede from India, which is predominantly Hindu.
India routinely accuses Pakistan of arming, training and supporting the militants. Pakistan denies the accusation but says Kashmiris have a right to self-determination.
At least 82 people have been killed since Jan. 20 in frequent street clashes between militants and security forces in Srinagar and adjoining areas. Most of the victims have been protesters shot while defying a curfew imposed by Government forces to stem rising violence.
The curfew has been relaxed from 5 A.M. to 6 P.M., except in the areas where the explosions occurred.
A Princely State
Kashmir, once a princely state, was divided between India and Pakistan after the two countries were partitioned at the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Srinagar and the surrounding areas of the valley became part of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sixty-four percent of the state’s 5 million people are Muslims, but Muslims make up 12 percent of the 880 million population nationwide.
Kashmiri militants had earlier campaigned for union with Pakistan, which claims Kashmir because of its predominantly Muslim population, but the militants now demand independence and the status of a neutral country.
India has fought two wars with Pakistan over Kashmir.
