Thousands of Kashmiris clash with police as India promises to ease clampdown

–Landline phone services to be restored gradually from Friday night and schools reopened from Monday

–Indian SC gives govt more time before ruling on a petition demanding lifting of media restrictions in restive region

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Hundreds of protesters in Indian-occupied Kashmir clashed with police on Friday who responded with tear gas rounds and pellet-firing shotguns, as the Indian government assured the Supreme Court (SC) that the situation in the restive region is being reviewed daily and unprecedented security restrictions will be removed over the next few days.

The clashes broke out after several thousand people rallied in the main city of Srinagar, where a security lockdown entered its 12th straight day after New Delhi stripped Kashmir of its autonomy.
No injuries were reported.

The protesters rallied inside the Srinagar locality of Soura that has witnessed regular protests since India announced its surprise move on August 5.

Police attempted to disperse hundreds of protesters who tried to march down the main road. Protesters hurled stones and used shop hoardings and tin sheets as improvised shields, as police shot dozens of rounds into the crowd.

A drone kept vigil over the area as thousands of men and women gathered inside a popular shrine.

“We are trying to breach the siege and march to the city centre but police is using force to stop us,” one protester told AFP, adding that three people were injured on Thursday in clashes with police officers and reservists.

Sporadic clashes were also reported in other parts of the Kashmir Valley, the main hotbed of resistance to Indian rule for decades, where communications have been cut off for nearly two weeks.

Major towns and cities in the restive valley remained under curfew, with government forces allowing people to move only on special passes.

Government forces erected steep barricades and used concertina wires to block roads.

No big gatherings were allowed in the valley and most mosques were shut for the second consecutive Friday.

“We want what is ours. We are not begging for anything but demand [that] India should respect its promises,” another protester told AFP.

“We will not sit back until we achieve complete independence from India,” he said.

The protesters marched inside the lanes, carrying black flags — signifying grief — and placards with slogans including “Go India, go back”.

‘LOCKDOWN TO EASE SOON’:

Meanwhile in New Delhi, Top Indian bureaucrat BVR Subramaniam said there would some loosening, telling reporters in Srinagar, that landline phone services would be restored gradually beginning Friday night and schools reopened from Monday.

He didn’t announce any immediate restoration of mobile phone services, which he said could be misused by pro-freedom groups.

The SC decided to give the government more time before ruling on a petition demanding the lifting of media restrictions, attorney Vrinda Grover told reporters. She represents Kashmir Times Editor Anuradha Bhasin, who said she was unable to publish her newspaper in Srinagar.

Subramaniam also said that government offices had started functioning normally. He said that Friday’s prayers passed off peacefully in the region and life in 12 of the region’s 22 districts was almost back to normal.

Public transport will be restored gradually after evaluating the security situation, he said.

“Some preventive arrests were made in the region as a preventive measure to maintain law and order,” Subramaniam said, though he did not give the number of people in government custody.

He also said there has not been a single loss of life since security forces imposed the lockdown early this month.

“We have prevented any loss of life or serious injuries to anyone despite concerted efforts by terrorist groups, radical groups and continuing efforts by Pakistan to destabilize the situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the family of a Kashmiri journalist for a regional daily newspaper said he has been detained by the Indian armed forces. Irfan Amin Malik works for Greater Kashmir, one of the largest newspapers in Kashmir.

Malik’s father, Mohammed Amin Malik, told The Associated Press that Malik was taken into custody late Wednesday night at his house in Tral in Pulwama, a southern district in Kashmir.

“We are worried about our son,” he said.

Principal Secretary Rohit Kansal of the Jammu and Kashmir region said he was looking into the case. Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbagh Singh declined to comment.

Malik is the first journalist known to have been detained since India’s decision to revoke Kashmir’s special constitutional status. The decision has raised tensions with Pakistan. The nuclear-armed rivals both claim Kashmir and the Himalayan region is divided between them.

Pakistan’s military said earlier Friday that Indian firing across the Line of Control dividing the region killed another soldier, raising the death toll to six in less than 24 hours.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry summoned an Indian diplomat and lodged a protest over the killings. The ministry said in a statement that the “cease-fire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation.”

There was no immediate comment from the Indian army.