Pakistan officer "killed" in Kashmir

21 August 2013 Last updated at 05:23 ET

Pakistan says an army officer has been killed by Indian shelling on the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the disputed territory of Kashmir.

An army statement said that a captain died and a soldier was seriously injured in the clash near Skardu.

It said the exchange of fire happened late on Tuesday night and continued on Wednesday morning.

Earlier this month, India accused Pakistan of killing five of its soldiers near the LoC.

The Skardu clash is the latest in a series of accusations and counter-accusations, with each side blaming the other for violations of a 2003 ceasefire.

Thousands of people have been killed in Indian-administered Kashmir since an armed revolt against Indian rule erupted in 1989.

BBC News – Asia

Pakistan officer "killed" in Kashmir

Pakistan accuses India of shelling as Kashmir tension simmers

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan accused Indian troops of firing shells across the disputed border in Kashmir on Monday after last week’s killing of Indian soldiers set off a wave of skirmishes between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

Reuters: Top News

Pakistan accuses India of shelling as Kashmir tension simmers

Curfew and strike shut down Kashmir

19 July 2013 Last updated at 02:21 ET

A curfew is in place in Srinagar and all the major cities and towns in the region

Major towns in Indian-administered Kashmir are under curfew, a day after four people were killed when troops opened fire on angry protesters.

Separatist groups called a strike across Jammu and Kashmir as a mark of protest against the violence in Jammu’s Ramban district

Police initially said six people were killed, but revised these figures.

Some reports said the protest came after forces entered a mosque, with allegations they beat a cleric too.

Angry crowds then gathered outside the Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Ramban, with troops ultimately opening fire, reports said. More than 40 people were injured. Some are in a critical condition.

Kashmir, claimed by India and Pakistan, has seen protests and an insurgency against Indian rule since 1989.

The BSF has not commented on Thursday’s events.

Protest strike

A curfew is in place in all areas of Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal and Bandipora districts and Shopian, Pulwama, Kulgam, Anantnag, Bijbehara and Sopore towns, reports from the state capital, Srinagar, said.

A large number of police and paramilitaries have been deployed to ensure calm.

Meanwhile, a three-day strike called by the separatists to protest against the firing, has shut down the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley.

Shops and businesses are closed and college and university examinations have been postponed, BBC Urdu’s Riyaz Masroor reports from Srinagar.

About 1,000 Hindu pilgrims who are in Jammu to participate in the annual trek to the Amarnath cave shrine have also been stopped.

Hundreds of paramilitary personnel wearing full riot gear are marching the streets in Srinagar and elsewhere to enforce the curfew in the region, our correspondent says.

India’s Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has called the incident “regrettable” and ordered an inquiry.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has also condemned the killings.

“It is highly unacceptable to shoot at unarmed protesters just because they were reportedly protesting [against the] manhandling of an Imam [Muslim cleric] of their area,” he said in a statement.

In recent years violence in the region has abated from its peak in the 1990s, but the causes of the Kashmir insurgency are still far from resolved.

BBC News – Asia

Curfew and strike shut down Kashmir

Curfew and strike shut down Kashmir

19 July 2013 Last updated at 02:21 ET

A curfew is in place in Srinagar and all the major cities and towns in the region

Major towns in Indian-administered Kashmir are under curfew, a day after four people were killed when troops opened fire on angry protesters.

Separatist groups called a strike across Jammu and Kashmir as a mark of protest against the violence in Jammu’s Ramban district

Police initially said six people were killed, but revised these figures.

Some reports said the protest came after forces entered a mosque, with allegations they beat a cleric too.

Angry crowds then gathered outside the Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Ramban, with troops ultimately opening fire, reports said. More than 40 people were injured. Some are in a critical condition.

Kashmir, claimed by India and Pakistan, has seen protests and an insurgency against Indian rule since 1989.

The BSF has not commented on Thursday’s events.

Protest strike

A curfew is in place in all areas of Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal and Bandipora districts and Shopian, Pulwama, Kulgam, Anantnag, Bijbehara and Sopore towns, reports from the state capital, Srinagar, said.

A large number of police and paramilitaries have been deployed to ensure calm.

Meanwhile, a three-day strike called by the separatists to protest against the firing, has shut down the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley.

Shops and businesses are closed and college and university examinations have been postponed, BBC Urdu’s Riyaz Masroor reports from Srinagar.

About 1,000 Hindu pilgrims who are in Jammu to participate in the annual trek to the Amarnath cave shrine have also been stopped.

Hundreds of paramilitary personnel wearing full riot gear are marching the streets in Srinagar and elsewhere to enforce the curfew in the region, our correspondent says.

India’s Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has called the incident “regrettable” and ordered an inquiry.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has also condemned the killings.

“It is highly unacceptable to shoot at unarmed protesters just because they were reportedly protesting [against the] manhandling of an Imam [Muslim cleric] of their area,” he said in a statement.

In recent years violence in the region has abated from its peak in the 1990s, but the causes of the Kashmir insurgency are still far from resolved.

BBC News – Asia

Curfew and strike shut down Kashmir

Chinese man detained in Kashmir

17 May 2013 Last updated at 18:49 ET

Desecration of the Koran is punishable with life imprisonment in Pakistan

A Chinese man in Pakistani-administered Kashmir has been taken into protective custody after he was accused of desecrating the Koran, officials say.

The man, named only as Mr Lee, works for a Chinese consortium that is building a dam in Kashmir.

A police official told the BBC that Mr Lee was held to prevent him from being lynched by an angry mob.

Allegations of blasphemy are taken very seriously in Pakistan with a number of controversial recent prosecutions.

Kashmir’s chief of police has assembled a committee of officials, politicians, local clerics and journalists to investigate the matter.

The police have not yet registered a case, saying they will wait for the committee’s report.

This is the first time a foreigner has been accused of desecrating holy scriptures under Pakistan law, the BBC’s Zulfiqar Ali reports.

Mob of ‘hundreds’

An official in the town of Muzaffarabad, close to where the alleged incident took place, said that the accusation was linked to a dispute which had taken place between Mr Lee and a local doctor hired by the consortium.

Continue reading the main story

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws

• After partition in 1947 Pakistan inherited offences relating to religion which were first codified by India’s British rulers in 1860


• In the 1980s clauses were added to the laws by the military government of General Zia-ul Haq


• One clause recommends life imprisonment for “wilful” desecration of the Koran, another says blasphemy is punishable by death or life imprisonment


• Muslims constitute a majority of those booked under these laws, followed by the minority Ahmadi community


• A majority support the idea that blasphemers should be punished, but there is little understanding of what religious scripture says as opposed to how the modern law is codified

• Q&A: Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws

Last week Mr Lee told the doctor, named as Dr Sajjad, to relocate from one room to another in the workers’ quarters of the compound, according to Muzaffarabad administration chief Ansar Yaqoob.

When Dr Sajjad refused, Mr Lee got some local people to take Mr Sajjad’s luggage out when he was not in the room, according to Mr Yaqoob.

Dr Sajjad then told other employees that a copy of the Koran and some other religious books in his luggage were “thrown out” of his room.

Neither Mr Lee nor Dr Sajjad could be reached for a comment.

Police said the local employees became angry, and were later joined by “hundreds” of residents of nearby villages.

An eyewitness said they stoned the compound, damaging some parts of the building and several vehicles.

Allegations of blasphemy and desecration of holy texts have frequently led to alleged offenders being killed by lynch mobs in Pakistan.

In 2011, two prominent politicians who spoke out against the blasphemy laws were assassinated in Pakistan.

BBC News – Asia

Chinese man detained in Kashmir