MPs heckled on Kashmir fact-finding mission

Indian lawmakers on a fact-finding missing to violence-hit Kashmir cut short a hospital tour after being heckled by patients' relatives on Tuesday as separatists called for fresh protests.

The members of parliament from New Delhi were part of an all-party delegation sent to Kashmir, where more than 100 civilians have been shot dead by police and paramilitary troops during a wave of separatist protests.

Several delegates arrived at the main hospital in Srinagar, Indian Kashmir's summer capital, to meet patients injured in three months of clashes between stone-throwing protesters and security forces using live rounds.

The lawmakers were hurried away after just 10 minutes as people inside the hospital chanted slogans against rule from New Delhi, an AFP reporter at the hospital said.

Some hospital staff and relatives of the injured by police firing also shouted "Go India, Go back!" at the delegates, who looked surprised by the hostile reception.

A total of 37 national politicians, led by Home Minister P Chidambaram, were on Monday snubbed by many local Kashmiri leaders who campaign either for autonomy or for complete independence for the Muslim-majority region.

Hardline separatist Syed Ali Geelani, who has organised the almost daily protests, refused to attend Monday's talks at a conference centre in Srinagar.

Geelani called for further street rallies on Thursday and Friday even if strict curfews that are keeping people indoors are still in place.

Moderate separatist leaders such as Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik also dismissed the delegation, describing it as a publicity stunt to disguise the government's inability to end the escalating unrest in Kashmir.

"The fact that the city is locked down under a curfew and residents cannot leave their houses while these politicians are here says everything," Farooq told AFP Tuesday.

"They must meet the common people if they want to hear the real aspirations of Kashmiris. They already know the truth about the curfews and police brutality."

Chidambaram was not at the hospital where the protests erupted, but instead visited the volatile town of Tangmarg with other delegates and the chief minister of Kashmir, Omar Abdullah.

On September 13, security forces in Tangmarg killed six protesters as mobs burnt down government buildings and a missionary school. During the worst day of violence for years in Kashmir, 17 civilians and one police officer died.

"The delegation has come obviously to get a report about the ground situation here," Abdullah told reporters. "We tried to ensure that the delegation meets as many people as possible."

The most recent death, a female bystander shot by paramilitary troops at a protest on Sunday evening, brought the number of civilians killed to 106.

The crisis in Kashmir began on June 11 when a teenage student was killed by a police teargas shell in Srinagar and enraged crowds took to the streets, pelting security forces with stones.

The all-party delegates are expected to return to New Delhi on Wednesday after spending the night in Jammu, the Hindu-majority part of Indian Kashmir.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has vowed to that feedback from the visit would influence the government's "evolving response" to Kashmir, but few observers predict any imminent breakthrough.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.