Indian authorities relaxed a four-day curfew late on Friday in parts of Srinagar, Kashmir’s main city, so that Muslims could attend prayers at the start of an annual religious ceremony, officials said.
The authorities imposed a curfew on the disputed Himalayan region on Tuesday and ordered the army to take control of Srinagar the next day — for the first time in almost two decades — to quell huge protests against Indian rule.
At least 15 people, mostly protesters, have died in clashes with police in the past three weeks, amid the biggest demonstrations against Indian rule in two years across Muslim-majority Kashmir.
Many local people blame security forces for the deaths.
Security developments in Srinagar during the religious ceremony could affect efforts by India and Pakistan to revive a peace process that India suspended after the attacks in Mumbai in 2008 that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
“Tomorrow there is a major festival at Hazratbal shrine and therefore there will be relaxation of curfew from tonight till late evening tomorrow,” Indian Home Secretary Gopal Pillai told state-run television on Friday.
“We are hopeful that peace will be maintained,” Pillai said.
In many parts of Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital, people swarmed into grocery shops when the curfew was lifted, having run out of food since the restrictions were imposed, witnesses said.
“It is a very good gesture since this festival is very sentimental for Kashmiris, who can now at least stock up with provisions for the next few days,” said Sameer Kaul, a Kashmiri oncologist.
Every year, tens of thousands of Kashmiri Muslims throng to Hazratbal shrine, the holiest in the region, to celebrate Meeraj-un-Nabi, the ascension of the Prophet Mohammed to heaven. The celebrations started in Kashmir on Friday evening.
The shrine holds a relic that many believe is a hair from the beard of the Prophet Mohammed.
Earlier in the day, thousands of people defied a curfew in north Kashmir and took to the streets shouting “we want freedom.”
Police used batons and fired in the air to enforce the curfew, and said at least 20 people were wounded in the clashes.
New Delhi has accused the Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, of being behind the growing protests in Kashmir against Indian rule, but many locals believe the protests are mostly spontaneous.
India and Pakistan will take the first step in trying to revive a peace process on Thursday when their foreign ministers meet in Pakistan, though the talks may be overshadowed by the vehement protests in Indian-ruled Kashmir.
The talks could see the two sides framing a new format to replace a broad 2004 peace process, known as the composite dialogue, which India suspended after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Both countries claim the whole of Kashmir, each rules part of the region, and they have fought two wars over it.
Officials say more than 47,000 people have been killed in the region since a revolt against Indian rule broke out in 1989.
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