[34] Jammu and Kashmir police and Indian paramilitary forces used pellet guns, tear gas shells, rubber bullets, as well as assault rifles.

Reasons for the growth included the absence of political dialogue, lack of economic opportunities, high unemployment, excessive militarization and repeated human rights violations by the security forces.

[73][74] On 30 July, the motorcade of state Education Minister Naeem Akhtar, who was traveling with MLC Yashir Reshi, was pelted with stones by crowds who were later dispersed at Dangerpora and Shilwat.

[103][104] On 21 August, a youth was killed after he was hit by a teargas shell in Srinagar while 70 others were injured in protests across the region, including about 60 people in a village of Rafiabad Tehsil.

[105][106][107] The Border Security Force (BSF) was removed from counter-insurgency operations and deployed to maintain law and order in Srinagar for the first time in 12 years on 22 August.

A police quarters and house of Rajya Sabha member of PDP, Nazir Ahmad Laway were set on fire by protesters in Hanad Chawalgam of Kulgam district.

[155] Indian security forces trying to control the Kashmiri agitators used pellet guns, which, although billed as "non-lethal", led to many casualties including permanent eye injuries.

[163] A team of three eye-specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, headed by ophthalmologist Prof Sudarshan K. Kumar, reached Kashmir to help the local doctors treat the pellet gun injuries.

[190][191] On 12 September, the state government again ordered the suspension of internet and mobile phone services in Kashmir excluding postpaid connections of BSNL for a period of 72 hours.

[192] In April 2017, state authorities banned 22 social media sites for a one-month period in an effort to calm tensions in the disputed region after videos depicting the alleged abuse of Kashmiris by Indian forces emerged.

[238] On the same day, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of India's Northern Command reached out to separatist leaders, stating that their help was required to restore normalcy in the region.

[240][241] The delegation met the Prime Minister on 22 August, submitting a memorandum in which it demanded that the central government ban the use of pellet guns and start a political dialogue with all stakeholders to end the unrest.

[256] The next day, Modi said that unity and compassion were the "twin mantras" for solving the Kashmir issue and criticized those inciting youth to violence saying they will have to answer to them someday.

[273] An Indian Army veteran penned an open letter in mid-July, stating that Wani would have died even if he managed to escape as he was a terrorist and all those who conspired to take away Kashmir from India would be met with an iron hand.

[277][278] A Facebook spat erupted in August 2016 over the unrest between Ruveda Salam, Kashmir's first woman Indian Police Service officer, and Harmeet Singh Mehta, the SP of Sopore after the former criticized the PDP.

[279] In a video that went viral on 15 March, Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Rashid Bhat asked the stone-pelters to attack the security forces for the supremacy of Islam, but not to fall for nationalism.

[287] A rally called Kashmir Caravan organised by Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and led by Hafiz Saeed was launched on 19 July at Lahore in support of the Kashmiri people.

[289] Sharif declared that Pakistan would approach the United Nations Human Rights Council on behalf of itself and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to request it to send a fact-finding team over the killings of civilians in Kashmir and banning the use of pellet guns.

She briefed them on Kashmir and forwarded letters by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, who raised the issue of civilian deaths and said that Kashmiris fundamental human rights had been violated.

[295] On 3 August, ahead of the SAARC Interior Ministers' Conference, Sharif called the situation "a new wave of freedom movement," and said, "The Kashmiri youth are writing new chapters of sacrifices to get the right to self determination.

[306][307] During his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on 21 September, Sharif highlighted Wani as a symbol of the latest "Kashmiri Intifada" while calling for an independent inquiry into the alleged extrajudicial killings committed by Indian security forces in Kashmir.

[308] On 30 May 2017, the Punjab Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution demanding that Pakistan's federal government immediately take the Kashmir issue to the United Nations.

[313][314] On 17 August, United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad appealed to the Indian and Pakistani governments to allow access.

[319] Sharif met Secretary of State John Kerry in September, and expressed their "strong concern" over the violence, particularly the attack on an army base in Uri.

[326] Turkey emphasised the need to resolve the dispute, while Azerbaijan called on the OIC to explore "innovative means to highlight the human rights violations" occurring in Kashmir.

[331] Turkey backed Pakistan's position of sending a team from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to probe the alleged human rights violations, expressing hopes that the Kashmir issue would be resolved through dialogue.

[335] A press release by Pakistan government mentioned that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during his visit to Islamabad in October 2016, exchanged views on Kashmir with Sharif.

[342] HRW's South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly criticized India for previously ignoring "the finding of abuses under the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act".

[350] The Director-General of Central Reserve Police Force, K. Durga Prasad, in a statement issued on 25 July, regretted the injuries to Kashmiri civilians, but said that they were the least lethal option available and assured that they would only be used in extreme situations.

[352] Prasad's comments were criticised by Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Amarinder Singh as well as Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, the state chief of CPI-M.[353][354][355] The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on 23 July advised the government to discontinue the use of pellet guns.