Kashmir opposition parties urge Modi to initiate dialogue, ban pellet guns

Opposition leaders in Indian-controlled Kashmir led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate dialogue with all stakeholders to put an end to the ongoing crisis in the restive region.

The leaders submitted a memorandum to Modi seeking immediate ban on pellet guns during crowd control in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Reports said the delegation have conveyed to Modi that continued failure to address the unrest in the region would further alienate Kashmiris.

"The Prime Minister has acknowledged that development alone can't resolve the problem in the state," Abdullah told reporters after the meeting.

The 20-member delegation arrived in Indian capital New Delhi last week to meet important dignitaries pleading for concrete steps to resolve the ongoing unrest in the region.

On Saturday the delegation met with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee to seek his intervention to end the crisis. The delegation on Sunday met with Indian National Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

Large-scale protests against New Delhi's rule are going on in the Muslim majority areas of the restive region since July 8.

The protests broke out following the killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a top militant commander of separatist group Hizbul Mujahideen (HM).

Despite prolonged curfew and restrictions to clampdown on protesters, clashes and protests seemed to be intensifying on Monday.

The death toll of civilians in the standoff has gone up to 65, besides injuries of thousands of civilians.

Two policemen were also killed and hundreds of government forces personnel injured in the unrest.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the psyche of majority of Kashmiris. Irate residents defying curfew and restrictions took to the streets at several places and clashed with police.

The youth threw stones and brickbats on contingents of police and paramilitary, who responded by firing tear smoke shells, pellets and bullets, which often proved fatal.

On Sunday a youth was killed in Srinagar city and more than 70 were injured, most of them in Baramulla district, after government forces fired upon protesters defying restrictions.

India's paramilitary last week informed the High Court in Indian-controlled Kashmir that it used 1.3 million pellets in the first 32 days in to control street protests. The admission came in response to a public interest litigation seeking a ban on pellet guns that has left more than 400 injured in their eyes.

It said 3,000 pellet cartridges, or around 1.3 million pellets, were fired from the pump action guns (shot guns used to fire pellets).

The shutdown and restrictions has affected normal life in the region, with people complaining dearth of essentials and eatables. A shortage of medicines has been reported in the region.

A separatist movement and guerrilla war challenging New Delhi's rule is going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.

In 2010, a similar wave of violence hit the region and claimed over 100 lives during clashes.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.

The weeks of turbulence in Indian-controlled Kashmir has added a new confrontation in the already strained relations between the two countries. Endit