Word: farooq
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Three well-dressed young men walked into Maulvi Muhammad Farooq's office in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, last week and politely asked to see him. When the Muslim cleric and political leader joined them, they pulled out pistols, shot him ten times and ran. One hour later, Farooq, 45, died on the operating table at a nearby hospital...
...violence did not end there. When Farooq's death was announced, agitated crowds that had gathered outside the hospital stormed the emergency room to claim his body. They then led an emotional procession toward the . headquarters of his party, the pro-independence People's Action Committee. As the marchers tried to push their way through a police cordon, Indian security forces opened fire, killing at least 47 people and wounding some 300. In the melee, Farooq's body fell to the ground and was hit by three bullets...
...next day more than 300,000 Kashmiris attended Farooq's funeral. Security was tight everywhere, but police stayed away from the burial in Martyrs' Cemetery, where militant Muslim youths fired volleys from assault rifles in his honor. While no organization has claimed responsibility for Farooq's assassination, most of his mourners seemed to blame the Indian government. In answer to the question "Who killed Muhammad Farooq?" the crowd roared back, "Jagmohan!" referring to the hard-line governor appointed by New Delhi in January to stamp out the 22-month-old rebellion in India's sole state with a Muslim majority...
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...