July 12: India today appeared to be on the defensive after UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon referred to the killings in Kashmir and sought "maximum restraint".
"He regrets the reported loss of dozens of lives and the injuries to many others," a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson said, adding that the secretary-general "calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further violence and hopes that all concerns would be addressed through peaceful means".
Although Ban's call was addressed to "all parties", it came on a day the toll in Kashmir climbed to 32 and officials in New Delhi privately wondered whether the security forces followed the standard operating procedure properly.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said security forces would be held accountable for "excesses".
"I regret that lives were lost.... Security forces would be held accountable for excesses," she said during a video address.
Mehbooba also made her first attempt to reach out to people and appealed for calm.
In the video address, Mehbooba urged parents to dissuade children from participating in stone-throwing protests.
The chief minister appeared to distance herself from the killing of Burhan Wani, claiming that she was informed of the encounter in the evening. The encounter had taken place at 4.30am on Friday.
One person died in firing by security forces today when a mob attacked a police station in Kupwara, while a student of Aligarh Muslim University succumbed to injuries suffered yesterday, taking the toll to 32.
The US said it was concerned by the violence but added that it was India's "internal matter".
Asked if the US had discussed the killings with Indian officials, a state department spokesperson said it had not. "This is an internal matter for the government of India," the spokesperson said.
In Islamabad, Pakistan foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry spoke to ambassadors and high commissioners from the permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, China, France, Russia and the UK.
"The foreign secretary urged the international community, and particularly the permanent members of the Security Council, to take notice of the gravity of the situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir," a statement from the Pakistan foreign ministry said.
Pakistan refers to the state of Jammu and Kashmir as "Indian-occupied Kashmir".
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over the glorification of slain Hizbul militant Burhan Wani in sections of the media and appealed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to maintain peace and calm.
Hours after returning from a four-nation Africa tour, Modi held a high-level meeting with his senior cabinet colleagues and officials of security agencies.
"The Prime Minister was deeply upset with the way a section of the media hailed Wani as a hero and expressed concern over the way his misdeeds were being glorified," a home ministry official said.
A home ministry official said the army and security forces had been instructed to adopt a more judicious use of force.
A section of officials in the home ministry expressed unhappiness with the way security forced handled the situation from the beginning. "I think they failed miserably in controlling the situation following the killing of Wani," an official said.
He claimed that the security forces were instructed to employ less lethal tactics to control the mobilisation. "Their response should have been measured. What is the point in now telling them to use force judiciously? The damage is already done," he said.
