World | India
High voter turnout in Kashmir despite clashes
Voters cast their ballots in the fifth phase of state elections in Indian Kashmir on Saturday as thousands of government forces patrolled the streets and guarded polling stations amid scattered clashes with protesters.
- AP
- Published: 23:45 December 13, 2008
Srinagar: Voters cast their ballots in the fifth phase of state elections in Indian Kashmir on Saturday as thousands of government forces patrolled the streets and guarded polling stations amid scattered clashes with protesters.
Police fired warning shots and swung batons to drive away protesters in Koil, a village 25 kilometers south of Srinagar, a police official said.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where most people either favour independence or a merger with Pakistan.
Kashmir is divided between the two rival countries and both claim it.
Militant separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule. The uprising and a subsequent Indian crackdown have killed about 68,000 people, most of them civilians.
The police officer said hundreds of protesters chanting anti-election and pro-independence slogans besieged police on two sides hurling rocks and other objects at them.
Violence halted voting at polling booths in Koil, he said, and protests were reported at two other villages.
Muslim separatist leaders have called for a boycott of elections, saying they will only entrench India's hold on the region.
However, early voting turnout was high, despite the security and chilly temperature.
Clashes: Protester shot dead
Police say a protester was shot and killed in clashes with government forces during voting in Indian Kashmir.
Kashmir's Police Chief B. Srinivas says a 20-year-old man died of his wounds after police opened fire on Saturday to control a spiralling protest at Koil village, about 25 km south of Srinagar.
Srinavas says two other protesters were wounded. It was the first death in clashes between protesters and police since the staggered elections for Kashmir's state legislature began on November 17.
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