Kashmir on strike amid protests

A general strike has paralyzed Indian-administered Kashmir, in a second day of protests against the sexual assault of a woman by army personnel.
The strike shut most shops, schools and offices in Srinagar and other major towns.
On Friday, protesters torched a government vehicle and clashed with police.
This comes after a young woman claimed she had been abducted and raped by two army officers.
Top separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has strongly condemned the violence against women by the Indian forces in the disputed Himalayan region.
“It (the alleged rape) has once again exposed the real face of forces and substantiated that they are using rape as weapon of war here,” Geelani said.
The Indian army said it was taking the allegations seriously.
In 2009, protests erupted when the bodies of two women were found in a river in the same region. Protesters accused security forces of raping and killing the two. Police investigation, however, concluded that the women had drowned.
In 2010, the Kashmir Valley was rocked by a series of protests in which at least 110 people were killed. The protests were sparked when Indian forces shot a student dead in June 2010.
Kashmir is one of the world’s most militarized areas and roughly, half-a-million Indian forces are stationed across the valley.
The Kashmir valley has either been under curfew or shut down over the past four months. Residents have been complaining about the shortage of food, medicine and other supplies across the valley.
New Delhi has been repeatedly criticized for resorting to force rather than finding a diplomatic solution to the dispute.
Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full and have fought two wars over the region since 1947.
The neighbors agreed on a ceasefire in 2003 and launched a peace process the following year. Since then, there have been sporadic clashes, with both sides accusing the other of violating the ceasefire.
Thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir over the past 20 years.

Source: Press TV