Moderate separatists in Indian-administered Kashmir went on a day-long fast to protest alleged human rights abuses by Indian troops, police and witnesses said. “This hunger strike is to protest rising human rights violations at the hands of Indian troops,” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, head of the moderate faction of the main separatist alliance, told AFP. About eight separatist leaders were on the one-day fast, joined by about 300 supporters. Some activists from the region’s main opposition party, National Conference, also joined the token action. Farooq and other moderate separatists such as Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Lone and Abdul Gani Bhat began their fast at 11:00am (0530 GMT) in a large tent set up in the football ground in Srinagar, summer capital of Indian Kashmir. Activists strung banners on the main road to the football ground reading: “We are humans, treat us as humans” and “Stop human rights violations and the rape of our daughters.” Police were deployed to prevent the separatists holding a march, a police officer said. Full Story
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