Restrictions on freedom of movement in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir are to be eased after India’s Independence Day tomorrow, the state governor has said, although telephone lines and the Internet are to remain cut off.
Communications would stay blocked as the Indian government relaxes its clampdown since it stripped the region of its autonomy early this month, Kashmiri Governor Satya Pal Malik told the Times of India.
“We don’t want to give that instrument to the enemy until things settle down,” Malik told the paper in an interview published yesterday.
Photo: AP
“In a week or 10 days, everything will be alright and we will gradually open lines of communication,” he said.
Fearing unrest, India shut down telecommunications and imposed a curfew in the part of Kashmir that it controls on Aug. 4, a day before its surprise presidential decree to strip the Muslim-majority region of its special status.
Tens of thousands of troop reinforcements have been deployed to the main city of Srinagar, as well as other towns and villages, turning the city into a deserted warren of barbed wire and barricades.
However, the lockdown has not prevented protests.
According to residents, about 8,000 people took part in a demonstration after Friday prayers, with security forces firing tear gas and pellet-firing shotguns to break up the rally.
For the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr on Monday, the Himalayan region’s biggest mosque, the Jama Masjid, was ordered shut and people were only allowed to pray in smaller local mosques so that no big crowds could gather, witnesses said.
Footage filmed on Monday by Agence France-Presse (AFP) showed hundreds of people protesting in the Soura area of Srinagar, shouting slogans such as “We want freedom” and “India go back.”
Three helicopters continuously hovered over the area as protesters jeered and shook fists at the aircraft.
“What India has done is unacceptable to us. Our struggle will continue even if India keeps Kashmir locked down for months. Only solution is that India has to accept what Kashmiris want,” one protester said.
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