Tempers still high more than a week after suicide bombing in Kashmir

World Today

Tempers still high more than a week after suicide bombing in Kashmir

Tensions remain high in India-administered Kashmir in the wake of last week’s suicide bombing, and some in India are taking out their anger on Kashmiri students and traders. India’s prime minister has condemned the attacks, but there are worries an upcoming Supreme Court decision could escalate tensions in the region even further. CGTN’s Shweta Bajaj has more.

The situation is tense in India and Pakistan’s flashpoint, Kashmir, more than a week after 42 paramilitary personnel were killed in a suicide bombing there.

The attack sparked anger across India, with some of it directed against Kashmiri students and traders outside Kashmir. That’s enraged Kashmiris in Srinagar.

“Whether a soldier dies, a Kashmiri dies or a border security guard dies, our heart hurts. Because every day, we have seen and been part of the funeral processions of 50 or 60 of our people,” explains one man. “So there is only one way out, that India and Pakistan sit down and solve this issue.”

The anger has brewed long enough, and a few are tired of violence. But some say there is hope.

“We don’t want violence,” another man cries. “We say this only – stop this bloodshed and address the issue of Kashmir and all three parties – Pakistan, India and Kashmiri leaders need to sit together.”

Yet another asks, “Why are the young picking up guns and Kalashnikovs? Why are educated doctors becoming terrorists?”

The Indian government says they have detained more than 100 separatists anticipating trouble ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing next week on a controversial article in the country’s constitution that confers special status on Jammu and Kashmir and gives certain privileges to permanent residents of the state.

And if the Article 35A gets passed, many believe tensions are likely to further escalate in India and Pakistan’s disputed region.