Clashes erupt as far-right EU lawmakers visit held Kashmir – Newspaper

SRINAGAR: Dozens of clashes broke out in occupied Kashmir on Tuesday, authorities said, as a delegation of mostly right-wing European lawmakers made a controversial visit to the disputed region that was stripped of its autonomy in August.

With a curfew in many parts of the main city, Srinagar, police fired tear gas and shotgun pellets when there were around 40 clashes throughout the Kashmir valley, authorities said.

It was not clear if there was any injury.

Late Monday, suspects that local fighters shot dead a truck driver, the sixth of those murders was aimed at the vital apple sector, while a grenade wounded 20 people elsewhere, authorities said.

The delegation of some 30 European lawmakers, including deputies from the extreme right of Poland, France, Germany and Britain, met Monday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, prompting allegations that he aimed to avoid criticism of New Delhi on Kashmir occupied.

A MEP of Britain's centrist liberal Democrats, Chris Davies, said the Indian government withdrew its invitation after insisting it could talk to locals without a police escort.

"I am not prepared to participate in a public relations trick for the Modi government and pretend everything is fine," Davies said in a statement.

The delegation included members of the nationalist, anti-immigration and Eurosceptic alternative for Germany, the National Rally of France, the Brexit Party and the Law and Justice of Poland.

The Indian government said the goal was to give deputies "a better understanding of cultural and religious diversity" of the region in dispute.

An EU official in India stressed that "he was not on an official visit."

UN concern

On August 5, New Delhi revoked the special status of the part of Kashmir that it has occupied. Since then, New Delhi has banned many politicians and an American senator from visiting the disputed Himalayan region. Visits by foreign journalists are also prohibited.

Tens of thousands of additional troops were deployed in the region and hundreds of local politicians, lawyers and others were arrested, most of whom are still detained.

Internet is still being cut for more than seven million cashmere.

The UN High Commission on Human Rights said Tuesday that it was "extremely concerned" about the situation. "We urge the Indian authorities to unlock the situation and fully restore the rights that are currently denied," he said.

Amid reports of torture and unconfirmed reports of six civilians killed, he said that the main political decisions about the region had been taken without the participation of the affected population.

Posted on Dawn, October 30, 2019