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Police fire tear gas to quell anti-India protests in Kashmir

The authorities have suspended the mobile internet services in Jammu and Kashmir for two days to avoid uploading of inflammatory posts on social media.

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Eid-ul Azha, the Muslim festival marking the sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim, was today celebrated across Kashmir and Jammu with the community members offering prayers, even as clashes were witnessed in some parts of the Valley in which three people were injured.

Among those arrested, further provoking anger in Kashmir, was Miriwais Omar Farooq, who was to lead Srinagar’s Eid prayers, and separatist leaders Syed Ali Gilani and Yasin Malik.

Clashes were reported from Eidgah, Rajouri, Kadal and some other areas of downtown Srinagar and at a few places in Anantnag district, a police officer said.

Security forces used tear smoke shells to disperse the mobs, the officer said, adding a photojournalist and a videojournalist were injured in the clashes.

Masked Kashmiris hold the national flag of Pakistan and a banner displaying militant leaders of the Hizb-ul Mujahedeen during a protest outside Eidgha, a prayer ground, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, September 25, 2015.

The 1932 law made the slaughter of cows punishable by up to ten years’ imprisonment and a fine. Earlier this month, a division bench of the J&K High Court, hearing a public interest litigation, directed the government to enforce the beef ban law.

“Our struggle is against the oppressor but communal forces want to convert this struggle into a Muslim versus Hindu issue which will overshadow atrocities and autocratic rule of India in Kashmir”.

Insurgent groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with neighbouring Pakistan since 1989.

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Many people have made a decision to slaughter bovine animals on Eid in defiance of court orders.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani