Indian crackdown could fuel revolt, says Mirwaiz

SRINAGAR (AFP) - Top APHC leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has warned India’s heavy-handed crackdown on protests in Held Kashmir could trigger a renewed violent upsurge in the long-running revolt.

Mirwaiz said New Delhi needed to accept that Kashmiris were as opposed as ever to Indian rule and a referendum on self-determination was the only way out of the crisis. “We will continue to fight peacefully and politically,” Farooq told AFP in an interview, which had to be conducted by telephone within Srinagar because he is under house arrest.

“(However) If India pushes us too hard to the wall, tomorrow you can’t really ignore the fact the youth might be angered and forced to resort again to arms,” Farooq said.

Farooq, 34, and two other two leaders - Syed Ali Geelani and Yasin Malik - have been placed under house arrest as security forces struggle to contain public anger.