Authorities arrest 60 anti-India protesters in Kashmir in bid to stop deadly civil unrest

Police arrest 60 anti-India protesters in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India — Thousands of people defied a curfew across Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday to pray in small mosques and in open fields, as government forces arrested dozens of suspected separatists in an attempt to stem civil unrest.

Police fired warning shots in the air after tear gas failed to disperse nearly 4,000 protesters chanting, “Go India, go back. We want freedom,” in Baramulla, a town north of the main city of Srinagar.

One protester was hit in the abdomen by a rubber bullet and was hospitalized, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

In the southern village of Kakapora, thousands of people defying the curfew threw stones at a police station, drawing warning shots and tear gas from police. At least five policemen and three protesters were injured in the clashes, police said.

Authorities later suspended the curfew for 24 hours so residents could celebrate the Muslim festival of “Shab-e-Miraj,” which commemorates Prophet Muhammad’s night journey to the heavens.

Anti-India sentiment runs high in Kashmir, where separatists are demanding independence from Hindu-majority India or a merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan.

But tension in the Himalayan region — divided between India and Pakistan — has risen to new levels recently and recalled the late 1980s, when protests against Indian rule sparked an armed conflict that has killed more than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, over the past two decades.

Authorities clamped a curfew over Kashmir on Wednesday in hopes of quelling weeks of violent anti-Indian street protests that left 15 people dead at the hands of security forces, according to residents.

Fearing that crowds leaving traditional Friday afternoon prayers could turn violent, authorities did not allow residents to enter the main mosques in Srinagar or other major towns, a police officer said. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because government policy barred him from speaking to reporters.

“India has practically announced a war on the civilian population by calling out the army and has curbed our basic human, religious and political rights,” the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella organization of separatist groups, said in a statement Friday.

However, authorities did not stop residents from gathering at smaller mosques, where anti-India slogans were broadcast over public address systems, the officer said.

Thousands of people came out from their homes and held streets protests in Baramulla, Kupwara and Budgam towns, police said.

Authorities arrested 60 suspected separatist activists during overnight raids by police and paramilitary soldiers.

At least 30 activists who had participated in recent street demonstrations were arrested in Anantnag, 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Srinagar, said a police officer who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said at least 30 others were arrested in Srinagar and other towns.

Tens of thousands of troops patrolled the region’s streets, while shops and schools were closed. Streets ringed with barbed wire were deserted, and the region’s nearly 60 newspapers were unable to publish for a second day Friday.

The Indian army is ubiquitous in Kashmir, but its operations are usually aimed at combating insurgents and it has not been used in crowd control since major street protests in 1990.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the region. India regularly accuses Pakistan of sending insurgents over the heavily militarized frontier to stir trouble and has blamed the current protests on Pakistan-based militants bent on destabilizing India, a charge Islamabad denies.