Authorities on Monday lifted a curfew imposed in most parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir as part of a 52-day security lockdown, but reimposed it later in the day in most of Srinagar, the region’s main city, after anti-India protests and clashes erupted in several neighborhoods.
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Shutdown continued in Kashmir on Tuesday despite relaxation of curfew in the Valley. The Kashmir Press Photographers Association condemned the attack on Ismail’s house by police and CRPF, which took place when Ismail was not at home.
And a day before Modi’s outreach program to people of the region through his monthly radio address, Indian-controlled Kashmir’s first woman Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti appealed for calm. Even as hundreds attended his funeral in Quil, sources said this was an attempt to demoralise police force dealing with the civil unrest in the Kashmir for over a month now. It has been nearly 51 days the Kashmir valley is under curfew, the longest ever ongoing spell in the region’s history which is making the already-hardened lives of the Kashmiris unbearable.
Authorities said they had chose to lift the curfew over much of the region in an attempt to de-escalate what has become the worst violence in the region since 2010.
“Greater movement of private, passenger vehicular traffic and people was observed in major areas of the Valley including Srinagar city today”, the statement said.
Kashmir has witnessed violent protests since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani in an encounter by security forces on July 8.
18-year-old Shakeel Ahmad Ganai and several others were injured in action by security forces against protesters at Nikas Arbal in Rajpora area of Pulwama district this afternoon, a police official said.
A report from Jammu said that a shutdown against the arrest of a prominent lawyer Babar-ul-Hassan brought life to a standstill in Doda and Bhaderwah areas of Chenab valley of the region on Monday.
State opposition parties, who had also met PM Modi in Delhi last week, have pushed for a dialogue with “all stakeholders” including separatists for a long lasting solution to the Kashmir issue.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the state police arrested political party Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s deputy Ashraf Sehrai from his home in Srinagar.
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Police recovered the body of a youth from River Jhelum at Sangam in Anantnag district this morning, a police official said.
