SRINAGAR: Police fired into a crowd of stone-throwing students in India-held Kashmir on Monday, as violence in the disputed Himal­ayan region intensified.

Hundreds of student protesters shouting “We want freedom” and “Go India, go back” fought government forces after taking to the streets of Srinagar.

Police fired live rounds as well as tear gas and water cannon to try to disperse the protesters as shoppers fled the violence and retailers shut down for the day.

Ruling party’s leader shot dead in Pulwama

The clashes broke out as colleges in the city reopened following skirmishes last week between students and government forces.

“A few students were detained. Three photojournalists and eight policemen were injured with stones,” a police officer said.

Nearly 100 students and around the same number of police were wounded in last week’s disturbances, which prompted authorities to temporarily shut down schools and universities.

The students were angered by a raid earlier this month on a college in the southern district of Pulwama in which police attempted to detain the alleged leaders of earlier protests.

Government forces are not supposed to enter college or university premises without special permission.

In a separate incident an official with the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Abdul Gani, was shot at and injured by unidentified attackers near the town of Pulwama. Later, he died from his injuries, a police officer said. India-held Kashmir has been tense since April 9, when eight people were killed by police and paramilitaries during the election day violence.

‘Stone-pelting, bullets, talks’

On Monday, the leader of Jammu and Kashmir held talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the developing crisis. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called for dialogue and an end to the violence.

“The first priority is to control the situation, because talks cannot take place amid bullets and stone-pelting,” she told reporters outside Mr Modi’s residence in New Delhi after the meeting. Ms Mufti’s PDP formed a governing alliance with Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after a 2015 election in held Kashmir.

That has made her party hugely unpopular in the Valley, home to most of its traditional support base.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017