 SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Police warned Monday they would shoot any violators of a curfew imposed in Indian-controlled Kashmir to prevent a large pro-independence rally planned later in the day.
Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear drove through neighborhoods and went to people's homes warning them to stay indoors, said Ghulam Nabi, a resident of Nowhatta district in Srinagar, the main city in India's only Muslim-majority state.
In recent months the disputed Himalayan region has seen some of its largest protests against Indian rule in two decades. At least 45 people have died in the unrest, most of them killed when Indian soldiers opened fire on Muslim demonstrators.
While streets in Srinagar were largely deserted, hundreds of protesters defied the curfew in Baramulla, a town 35 miles north of Srinagar. Government forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and no one was injured, said Abdul Gani Mir, a senior police officer.
Reyaz Ahmed, a local resident, said by telephone that authorities entered homes, smashed windows and beat residents. Mir said police were looking into the allegations.
Several hundred people also defied the curfew in the nearby village of Rafiabad, but later dispersed peacefully.  Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Indian-administered Kashmir, where most people favor independence from mainly Hindu India or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.
Separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule, leaving an estimated 68,000 people, mostly civilians, dead.
Indian police and paramilitary forces also prevented people from visiting mosques for Monday morning prayers in Srinagar and other places in the region, residents said. Shops, schools and businesses shut for the day.
Police announced over loudspeakers they would shoot anyone found violating the curfew, residents said.  "People should not violate the curfew, it's an offense," warned B. Srinivas, inspector-general of state police.
The recent demonstrations subsided during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended Sept. 30. But separatist leaders sought to rekindle the protests with a huge rally Monday at Lal Chowk, a central square in Srinagar.
Authorities announced a curfew across the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley on Sunday.
Police also arrested Mohammed Yasin Malik, a key separatist leader, on Saturday and put another top leader, Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, under house arrest, Srinivas said.
"By imposing the curfew, India's false claims of democracy and freedom of expression are exposed," Farooq told The Associated Press by telephone.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, which both claim the region and have fought two wars over it. |