SRINAGAR: Indian Kashmir is on the boil again: this time over the killing of eight young Kashmiris in less than three weeks allegedly at the hands of Indian security forces.

The deaths have brought thousands of war-weary residents out onto the streets chanting "Blood for Blood!" and "Freedom for Kashmir!". Authorities have responded with bullets, tear gas, curfews and arrests.

The latest wave of unrest started on June 11 when a 17-year old student died after being hit by a teargas shell fired by police during an anti-India demonstration in Srinagar, Indian Kashmir`s summer capital.

Tufail Matoo was not part of the protest and was carrying his school bag when he was hit, his family said.

Since then seven other young Kashmiris have been killed during protests and another has died from serious skull injuries after being allegedly beaten-up by paramilitary soldiers.

The strikes, protests and growing ill-will are putting pressure on the young, British-born chief minister of the volatile Muslim-majority region, Omar Abdullah, a scion of Kashmir`s main political dynasty.

He came to office last year, promising to reduce the estimated 500,000 Indian troops in the Himalayan state and also to improve human rights.

"Omar (Abdullah) is facing a very serious challenge. The situation is fast getting out of control," the editor of leading Urdu weekly "Chattan" (Rock), Tahir Mohiudin, told AFP.

"His seriousness on improving human rights is now being questioned," he said, adding the present situation has been "mishandled as security forces have used excessive force."

Leading separatist and chief priest of the region`s main mosque, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, called at the weekend for Abdullah to resign "because he has failed to protect the lives of Kashmiris."

The latest deaths and protests are also a setback for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who pledged to improve human rights during a visit this month.

"The security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have been strictly instructed to respect human rights of civilians," Singh said in Srinagar.

With bitterness and anger on the rise, the latest protests play into the hands of hardline separatists, who have long resisted talks with New Delhi and seek independence or a merger with Pakistan for the Muslim-majority region.

"This is a situation that favours them and they are making full use of it," said Mohiudin.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have each administered part of Kashmir since the partition of the subcontinent after the end of British rule in 1947.

The global flashpoint has been the trigger for two of the three wars fought by the neighbours in the last 60 years.

Once famously called "paradise on earth," the heavily militarised region is often described as "India`s Switzerland" dotted as it is with snow-capped peaks, lakes and lush vegetation during the summer months.

During the darkest days of an anti-India insurgency that began in 1989, it was also frequently referred to as the most dangerous place on earth.

Today, it is safer than at any point during the last 20 years measured by the number of murders. But anti-India street protests by young Kashmiris show that resentment still runs deep.

The young generation is fed up with the stalemate, says Mohiudin.

"They want a permanent solution and hence they hit the streets regularly," he told AFP.

But several rounds of talks between moderate separatists and New Delhi have failed to produce any results and killings by security forces reinforce the notion of "occupying" Indian troops mistreating the local population.

Radha Kumar from the New Delhi-based Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution attributes the street protests to the lack of prospects for young Kashmiris and the economic backwardness of the region.

Given the instability, companies have shunned investment in the region and tourism, the mainstay of the local economy, has suffered. Most Western governments still discourage their nationals from travel to Kashmir.

"Delay in resolution is bad in itself, but not necessarily the reason for people to go out on the streets. To me the reason for the unrest is the growing number of unemployed young people," Kumar told AFP.

Overall, nearly 70 protesters have died in clashes during protests since mid-2008, according to the police.

BDST 0852 HRS, June 29, 2010

SIS