Indian-held Kashmir observes Martyr’s Day

The 86th Kashmir Martyrs Day is being observed on both sides of the Line of Control on Wednesday with renewed pledge to continue the struggle for the freedom of occupied Jammu and Kashmir from the Indian yoke.

There will be a state holiday in Azad Kashmir on this occasion.

Special meetings including seminars and symposiums will be held to pay rich tributes to Kashmiri martyrs to be followed by protest rallies and demonstrations against India.

Public meetings will also be held  in all major cities of Azad Kashmir including, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli, Bagh, Rawalakot, Sudhanoti, Bhimber and Neelam valley and all other small and major towns and cities to mark the day.

Volunteers carry an injured man shot during clashes between security forces and protesters in Srinagar from an ambulance outside a hospital in the city

On the fifth day of the violence, a complete strike is being observed all across the valley whereas curfew has also been imposed by the Indian authorities in order to prevent protests.

Indian-held Kashmir’s main hospital struggled to treat hundreds of patients wounded in four days of clashes, as medics warned that many could lose their eyesight from shotgun injuries.

Volunteers carry an injured boy shot during clashes between security forces and protesters in Srinagar

As the overall death toll from the violence rose to 34, ambulances continued to deliver more victims to Srinagar’s Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) where patients were sometimes forced to share beds.

An administrator said staff had been ordered not to speak to the press but wards were crammed with young boys and men, many of whom had suffered serious eye injuries caused by the firing of pellets by Indian troops.

Volunteers carry an injured man shot during clashes between security forces and protesters in Srinagar from an ambulance outside a hospital in the city

“Doctors are working in operating theatres round-the-clock. We’ve operated on 90 for serious eye injuries since Saturday morning,” said a doctor in SMHS where many volunteers were helping to tend to the injured.

An Indian officer looks after clashes between security forces and protesters in Srinagar

“Most of them have lost their eyesight in one eye. They are going to walk out of the hospital as one-eyed boys,” the doctor added.

One of the youngsters told media he had been injured when paramilitary troops opened fire towards him and a group of his friends with pellet guns as they walked out of a mosque in Srinagar on Friday evening.

READ MORE: US expresses concern over violence in Indian-held Kashmir

A couple with their child passes amid clashes between security forces and protesters in Srinagar

“I can’t see anything right now,” the boy said, declining to give his name as he wiped away tears that were dripping out of the sides of his bandaged eyes.

A senior state administrator said at least 1,000 people have been injured in the clashes in Indian-held Kashmir since alleged Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed last Friday.

Security forces walk through the area in Srinagar

Much of the worst violence has been in the south of the capital Srinagar where security forces have used live fire, non-lethal pellet guns as well as tear gas to disperse crowds.

On Monday, hundreds of protesters tried to storm a military airbase about 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of Srinagar before being repelled.

Protesters throw stones towards the security forces in Srinagar

While there were fresh clashes Tuesday, the violence was on a much smaller scale than previously. Two people died in hospital from injuries they had sustained earlier, raising the toll to 34.

The death of 22-year-old Wani, a poster boy for the region’s biggest separatist group, has sparked the deadliest clashes in occupied Kashmir since 2010 when massive demonstrations were held against Indian rule.

Volunteers carry an injured man shot during clashes between security forces and protesters in Srinagar

Hizbul Mujahideen is one of the several separatist groups which have been fighting for decades against the hundreds of thousands of Indian troops deployed in the disputed region.

Tens of thousands have died in the fighting since 1989.

Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947, but both claim the picturesque Himalayan territory in its entirety.