Curfew, arrests ahead of Indian Kashmir rally

INDIA: Security forces enforced a strict curfew in Indian Kashmir on Sunday and detained separatist leaders to prevent them from holding a pro-independence rally, officials said.

The curfew was in force in the summer capital Srinagar and other Muslim-majority towns ahead of Monday’s planned rally at the main city’s Red Square, or Lal Chowk.

Policemen used loudspeakers to urge residents to stay indoors after some separatists said they would try to reach Red Square.

“Please do not come out of your homes as strict curfew is in force in Srinagar,” policemen announced through loudhailers fitted to vehicles.

Thousands of troops have been deployed around the venue, with all entry points blocked by fencing and barbed wire.

Backed by paramilitary forces, police sealed off many neighbourhoods in Srinagar with barbed wire and warned people against defying the curfew.

Late Saturday night police detained senior separatist Yasin Malik in a raid near Red Square, police said.

Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who head hardline and moderate factions of the region’s separatist alliance, were placed under house arrest and several second rung leaders were detained overnight.

The three have been leading a series of large demonstrations over the past few months, reviving calls for independence from Indian rule.

“The curfew and arrests are to prevent the rally,” a police officer who asked not to be named told AFP.

On Saturday, Indian Kashmir imposed a one-month ban on public gatherings in a move interpreted as a bid to scupper the rally. The order applied to gatherings of five or more in public spaces, a government statement said.

Over the past few months the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley has been hit by some of the biggest pro-freedom demonstrations since the eruption of an insurgency against New Delhi’s rule in 1989.

The protests were triggered by a row over a government donation of Kashmiri land to a Hindu pilgrimage trust and spiralled into anti-India demonstrations that have left more than 40 Muslim protesters dead.

Srinagar,Sunday, AFP