Authorities lifted a curfew from most parts of Kashmir yesterday after 17 days of lockdown, but protesters continued to clash with police in the main city of Srinagar following two weeks of deadly violence.
“There will be no restrictions in any part of district Srinagar today on 26 July,” top administrative official Farooq Ahmad Lone said in a statement.
Mobile and Internet networks remained suspended in Srinagar and across the state, while a curfew was still in force in southern areas, where most of the 50 deaths have occurred.
Hundreds of angry residents rallied in the city yesterday to protest against Indian rule, shouting slogans for freedom and clashing with police who fired tear gas canisters to disperse them, a witness said.
Shops, schools and businesses remained shut in the city while vehicles were off the roads.
Separatist leaders opposed to Indian rule have extended an ongoing strike to Saturday, but have appealed to shopkeepers to open for a few hours each day to allow people to buy essential supplies.
“We will open shops after 2pm,” Umer Ahmed, a shopkeeper in the old quarter of Srinagar said.
The unrest was triggered by the killing on July 8 of Hizbul Mujahideen rebel leader Burhan Wani in a gunfight with soldiers.
The wide-scale protests have also left thousands injured.
Anantnag in south Kashmir witnessed protests on Monday night as thousands of angry men and women rallied against civilian killings.
Witnesses and officials said the fresh protests in Anantnag town, some 50km from Srinagar, began in the dead of the night when people in large numbers came out of their homes and marched on the streets.
Police and security forces had earlier moved back to their camps after they successfully foiled a separatist-called march to the Anantnag town square where they had planned to address a gathering during the day.
People during the day had gathered in the town in large numbers but were chased away by police and paramilitary troopers.
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were detained earlier in the day in Srinagar as they defied police restrictions in a bid to march to Anantnag.
Officials said that some during the nocturnal march set on fire a state irrigation building that lies on the Hindu pilgrim route to the Amarnath cave shrine.
The protests continued till early yesterday morning.
Protests were also held in the nearby Achabal town where thousands of people surrounded a police station against the alleged arrest and beating up of four youths, including three teens.
The youngest arrested is said to be 13 years old.
Protesters alleged that the youths were arrested for throwing stones. They said police and paramilitary troopers brutally beat up the youth.
Meanwhile one militant was caught alive and four were killed by security forces yesterday.
Local media, quoting official sources, reported that all the militants were Pakistani nationals.
“Catching a militant live is a big success as it exposes the game plan of Pakistan,” minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju told reporters in Delhi, terming the arrest a “big success” for the security forces.
Motorists and pedestrians return to downtown Srinagar streets after authorities lifted a curfew in the city yesterday.
