SRINAGAR - Indian security forces kept
disputed Kashmir's biggest city of Srinagar largely locked down
on Monday, the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, to prevent any
major protests against a decision that scrapped the Himalayan
region’s special rights.
Frustration is growing in Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is
also claimed by Pakistan, over India’s move last week to curtail
autonomy for the state of Jammu and Kashmir, including a bar on
non-residents buying property.
Hundreds of people shouting anti-India slogans spilled on to
the streets following prayers in the neighbourhood of Soura, the
site of a big demonstration on Friday, but authorities largely
sealed off the area and kept the protest localised.
"We want freedom, we are neither a part of India, nor
Pakistan," said Asifa, an 18-year-old woman who was among those
protesting after prayers at the shrine of Jinab Sahib in Soura.
"Modi is lying to his people that the removal of special
status of Kashmir is good for us," she said. "We will resist it
till our last breath."
The voices of protesters chanting anti-India and
pro-Pakistan slogans grew louder as the sound of helicopters
swelled overhead, among at least three of the aircraft that
hovered over Srinagar to keep vigil.
Eyewitnesses reported sporadic incidents of stone throwing
of security forces on Sunday and Monday morning.
"There have been some isolated incidents of stone-pelting,"
the Home Ministry said in a statement, but added they were of an
"insignificant level".
It said police dispersed the protesters and only one or two
individuals suffered major injuries. It provided no further
detail. The authorities say there have been no bullets fired by
security forces.
SOME MAJOR MOSQUES CLOSED
Reuters reporters were among the many people stopped at
roadblocks and kept from entering parts of the city on Sunday.
"In Srinagar, keeping in view the possibility of terrorists,
militants and mischievous elements trying to disturb public
order and peace, reasonable restrictions were imposed on large
gatherings in sensitive areas," the Home Ministry said.
People still gathered in mosques in large numbers in Kashmir
on Monday, it added. However, in Srinagar, several major mosques
and religious sites, including the famous Jamia Masjid mosque
with a capacity of more than 30,000, were closed, and
worshippers were encouraged to attend prayers in smaller mosques
near where they lived.
"There are some mosques which are not open, that is because
it is the view of the administration that is a sensitive law and
order situation," said an Indian government source in New Delhi.
The clampdown on communications remained in place for an
eighth day, with no regular Internet, mobile phone or fixed-line
links working. Virtually no independent information has emerged
from elsewhere in the Kashmir Valley but Srinagar in the past
week.
More than 300 regional leaders and activists remain in
various forms of detention.
SHOPS CLOSED
Residents said the rapt silence on the city’s streets was
like nothing they had ever experienced before on the Eid
festival. Even best-known areas, such as the city square, Lal
Chowk, that would otherwise be crowded with people were empty.
Shops were shut, their shutters and walls carrying
anti-India graffiti including, "Go India Go Back" and "We Want
Freedom".
Several paramilitary and police officials referred to the
restrictions as a "curfew" in conversations with Reuters
reporters. India's official stance is that there are
restrictions, but no curfew.
The restrictions in Srinagar were the city's tightest ever,
two paramilitary officials told Reuters on Monday.
Police and troops, many wearing heavy riot gear, dotted
silent streets where checkpoints had been added around midnight,
with more concertina wire laid out to create barricades.
The decision to tighten restrictions followed a meeting of
the state's chief secretary with district administrative and
police officials on Sunday, a senior government official told
Reuters.
"It was decided that the restrictions would be imposed on
Eid to prevent gatherings that could turn violent."
PRO-PAKISTAN SLOGANS
Many women were among the people seen breaking down in tears
amid chants of "We want freedom" during the prayers.
"There have been some minor localised protests of a routine
nature in a few places," the Home Ministry statement said. "This
is not unknown in Jammu and Kashmir in the past."
Leaders in Kashmir had warned of a backlash against
stripping autonomy from a territory where Islamist militants
have battled Indian rule for nearly 30 years, leading to the
deaths of more than 50,000 people.
Pakistan has downgraded diplomatic relations with India and
suspended trade in anger at Delhi's latest move.
The Pakistani government asked its citizens to observe the
Eid festival in a "simple manner" this year to express
solidarity with Kashmiris living on the Indian side of the
divided region. There were prayers dedicated to Kashmiris in
India.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party has long campaigned to abrogate Kashmir's
special privileges in the constitution, which it sees as a
measure of appeasement to Muslims that hinders development.
The BJP and even some top opposition leaders have welcomed
the decision to absorb Kashmir fully into India, and it has
brought Modi support across the country.
On Monday, there were few signs of festivities, with many
Srinagar residents saying they planned to skip the usual ritual
of animal slaughter as they did not feel like celebrating.
"What are we celebrating? I can’t call my relatives to wish
them Eid, we can’t go out to buy things. So, what kind of
celebration is this?" asked Aneesa Shafi, an elderly woman
entering a mosque in Srinagar's Barzulla area.