South Asia Slaughter Up North

By Lisa Beyer

"Brave Kashmiris," came the summons from loudspeakers in minarets throughout Srinagar, summer capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, "the time has come to lay down your lives. Come out and face the occupation forces as true soldiers of Islam." By the thousands, Muslim separatists answered the call last week. Enraged by the detention of 400 locals accused of terrorism, they surged through the narrow alleys of the decrepit city, chanting "Indian dogs, go home!" and pelting police and soldiers with stones. Security forces replied first with tear gas, then with rifle fire. By week's end at least 133 people had been killed, nearly doubling, to 279, the death count since the latest round of trouble in Kashmir began 18 months ago.

Though authorities managed to bring a tentative calm to Srinagar and nearby areas by enforcing a 24-hour curfew, the conflict threatened to pull India and its longtime enemy Pakistan into an explosive confrontation. The countries have already fought two wars over Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim territory that was divided between them when they gained independence from Britain in 1947. India has long accused Pakistan of arming and training rebels who want Kashmir either to form an independent state or to merge with Pakistan. But New Delhi has produced little convincing evidence of the allegation, which Islamabad denies.

India also claims, with more substantiation, that Pakistan has interfered by encouraging the Kashmiri insurgents. The two-month-old government of Prime Minister V.P. Singh was infuriated last week when Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto abandoned her reticence on the issue and, in response to public pressure, voiced support for the militant Kashmiris. U.N. observers have reported a sharp increase in shooting incidents in recent months along the heavily fortified cease-fire line that separates the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir. Pakistani soldiers attribute the sniping to jittery Indians; the Indians in turn blame the Pakistanis.

The Kashmiris' foremost grievance is that they have been cheated of democracy by New Delhi. State elections have rarely had even the appearance of honesty; the militants greatly escalated their fight after the 1987 balloting was blatantly rigged in favor of candidates backed by the Congress (I) Party. Many Kashmiris insist that New Delhi is bound by 1948-49 U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for the people of Kashmir to choose their future in a plebiscite; like the administration before it, Singh's government has ruled that out.

Singh has conceded, however, that the Kashmiris have many justified laments. Two weeks ago he appointed as governor Jagmohan, an efficient administrator who governed the state from 1984 to 1989, thereby prompting Farooq Abdullah, the unpopular chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, to resign in protest. Eager to demonstrate his goodwill, Jagmohan has distributed food during curfews, created new jobs and offered nearly $3,000 each to the families of three civilians killed by Indian guards. But tempers in Kashmir are still too short to be soothed by token measures.

With reporting by Yusuf Jameel/Srinagar and Anita Pratap/New Delhi