SRINAGAR, India — Fifty students arrested during months of deadly protests in Indian Kashmir were released from custody on Wednesday in a latest move to defuse tension in the Himalayan region, an official said.
"We have set free some 50 student protesters," Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told the state assembly during a discussion on recent unrest in the state.
Abdullah, who heads the pro-India National Conference, said a meeting would take place later Wednesday to review cases of other protesters and separatists jailed under tough security laws.
The move is aimed at building trust and pacifying local anger after months of demonstrations against Indian rule in the region that has left 110 protesters and bystanders dead.
The intensity of the protests has slackened over the past ten days after a visit by leading politicians which culminated in an eight-point plan by the national government to resolve the crisis.
Abdullah said the moves are aimed at "trying to create confidence" among the people.
On Tuesday, security forces also began removing 16 of 200 bunkers in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, as part of the new confidence-building initiative.
Abdullah said the unrest, rolling strikes and curfews had left over 30,000 people jobless.
"When companies didn't earn anything they announced job cuts," he said, adding that many local doctors, engineers, businessmen and students have left the region.
A wave of anti-India street protests began on June 11 when a 17-year-old student was killed by a police teargas shell. Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. (google.com/hosted news)
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