Troops patrol, erect barricades to prevent separatist protest in Indian Kashmir city
Written by Writer on Saturday, November 8th, 2008
Troops patrol, erect barricades to prevent separatist protest in Indian Kashmir city
SRINAGAR, India — Thousands of troops in riot gear patrolled the main city in India’s portion of Kashmir to prevent a pro-independence rally Thursday, and authorities warned residents to stay home.
Separatists had called for a protest Thursday at Jamia Masjid, the main mosque in Srinagar, to honor tens of thousands of Muslims they say were killed in riots with Hindus on Nov. 6, 1947, in Jammu, the only Hindu-majority city of India’s Jammu-Kashmir state.
B. Srinivas, a senior police officer, said the government has banned any public assembly of more than five people but that no curfew has been imposed. Troops erected steel barricades and laid razor wire on roads to prevent a public gathering.
“We’re imposing restrictions to avoid clashes,” he said.
Police and paramilitary soldiers drove through neighborhoods in the old parts of Srinagar warning people to stay indoors, said Bashir Ahmed, an area resident. He said some police called it a curfew.
“They are not allowing any movement,” Ahmed said.
Largely residents stayed home, and shops, businesses and government offices were shuttered across the city.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where most people favor independence from India or a merger with Pakistan. Kashmir is divided between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, but both claim the region in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.
Militant separatist groups have fought since 1989 to end Indian rule in the Himalayan region. Some 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.
In recent months Kashmir has seen some of its largest protests against Indian rule in two decades. At least 48 people have died in the unrest, most killed when Indian soldiers opened fire on Muslim demonstrators.
Authorities have imposed several curfews in Srinagar to prevent rallies and keep a lid on potential violence.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 5:26 pm TWN, By AIJAZ HUSSAIN, AP
