Separatists in Indian Kashmir call for shutdown amid ‘Black Day’ protests

Name: Anniversary of loss of special status for Indian-held Kashmir sparks protests on Pakistan side
Uploaded: 2021-08-05T15:29:27.000Z
Description: Anniversary of loss of special status for Indian-held Kashmir sparks protests on Pakistan side

Suspected rebels fired live shots in the air in Srinagar, where an explosive device also went off

In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, protesters chanted anti-Indian slogans and burnt the country’s flags to show solidarity with Kashmiris across the border

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People gather to show solidarity with Indian Kashmiris during a rally in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-administered Kashmir on August 5, 2021. Photo: AFP

Agence France-Presse

Published: 11:29pm, 5 Aug 2021Updated: 11:29pm, 5 Aug 2021

Hundreds of extra police and troops were deployed in Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday as separatist groups called for a shutdown to mark a “black day” on the second anniversary of New Delhi imposing direct rule.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, with both claiming the territory in full. Fighting in the past two decades in the Indian-controlled part has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s partial autonomy on August 5, 2019, and split it into two federal territories. Thousands were arrested, scores of whom remain behind bars two years on.

Anniversary of loss of special status for Indian-held Kashmir sparks protests on Pakistan side

Ahead of the second anniversary, security forces erected numerous new checkpoints and barricades across Srinagar, with personnel in bulletproof gear checking vehicles and frisking residents.

Suspected rebels fired live shots in the air in the heart of the congested old town Srinagar, where a low intensity explosive device also went off, witnesses said.

In the Sopore area, unknown rebels fired at police as authorities tried to force shopkeepers observing the shutdown to open their doors, an officer said. District police denied the incident took place however in a post on Twitter.

Anyone who speaks up is being crushed without reason

A Srinagar shopkeeper

Top separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, 90, had called for a general shutdown to mark a “black day” in protest at “India’s naked aggression”, in a Twitter statement by his Pakistan-based representative.