In response, Indian authorities revived a government-sponsored militia and began rearming and training thousands of villagers, including some teenagers. The police blamed militants fighting against Indian rule for decades in Kashmir, the Himalayan territory claimed by India and Pakistan in its entirety. In 2005, India’s federal government founded a local militia, the Salwa Judum, to combat Maoist rebels in the central Chhattisgarh state. In Kashmir, the civil defense groups were armed almost six years after the deadly insurgency against Indian rule began. Muslim residents in the village say fear and grief bind them together with their Hindu neighbors, yet their request to join the militia has been refused.

Source: The Nation February 28, 2023 04:02 UTC