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The Indian government has announced an amnesty for hundreds of youths found guilty of throwing stones at security forces during anti-government protests in the troubled state Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir last year, the Indian Express reported on Monday
The Indian government has announced an amnesty for hundreds of youths found guilty of throwing stones at security forces during anti-government protests in the troubled state Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir last year, the Indian Express reported on Monday
In a move to prevent a return to violent demonstrations and appease the disputed region's separatists, Kashmir's top official declared that up to 1,200 men guilty of stone throwing will have their cases withdrawn.
"Today the future of all those young men, who were manipulated to throw stones, is bleak and they are making rounds of police stations and courts. Their future is ruined because they will not get the requisite no-objection certificates for joining government jobs and getting passports," Omar Abdullah, Kashmir's chief minister, was quoted as saying.
"It is a one-time amnesty. From today onwards, there will be no further amnesty," he said, adding that it was an Eid gift to Kashmir's children who had "committed mistakes".
More than 100 people were killed in the protests, which broke out in June 2010 and were the biggest since an armed revolt against Indian rule erupted in 1989 in the majority Muslim region. Separatist demands have ranged from granting of autonomy to outright independence from India
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