India worried about how to handle student anger

Another student death in clashes in Indian-held Kashmir has heightened tensions and worsened India's worries about a foe that it cannot control - youths who do not carry guns. The teenager was fatally shot in the chest during an exchange of fire between troops and suspected freedom fighter in Shopian, south of occupied Srinigar, late Tuesday, sparking further violent protests.
Students have taken the lead in protests, hurling stones at soldiers tracking freedom fighters who want held Kashmir to break away from India. More than 100 young men and women have been killed over the past year in the demonstrations. The deaths have increased anti-Indian sentiment in the part of the Muslim-majority Himalayan region it has controlled since 1947.
India is also worried about how to handle the anger. It considers the battle with armed militants to be a fair one but its leaders are unnerved about students whose only weapons are stones. Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat said he wished "instead of throwing stones at us, (they) were firing weapons". "Then I would have been happy. Then I could do what I want," he told Press Trust of India. Bedridden in a dimly lit room of his village home, Mohammad Younis, 18, is eager to join the protests. Indian soldiers shot the 18-year-old in the thigh in February. He had been walking through paddy fields to attend the funeral of a freedom fighter killed by troops.
"If I wasn't stuck in this bed I would also go out to protest," Younis told AFP at his home in Quimoh. His father, Mohammad Akbar, said the students were "not afraid of bullets and soldiers". "We were timid," he added. "But this generation has to fight."
Student anger A former student known to Younis, was martyred just ten days after joining the freedom fighters. About 100 young Kashmiris are believed to have joined the armed freedom fighters since commander Burhan Wani was martyred by security forces last July. Wasim Ahmed Bhat, a student, said he has been detained seven times since July and was not allowed to attend his father's funeral. "Each time I was tortured," he said.