Authorities in Indian Kashmir yesterday lifted a nine-day curfew imposed after a Hindu pilgrimage dispute triggered mass protests against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region.
The lifting of the daytime curfew coincided with the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and followed the release on Monday of three senior Kashmiri separatist leaders.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Geelani and Yasin Malik had all been arrested last week for organizing huge street protests demanding “freedom” from Indian rule.
PHOTO: AFP
Police official Pervez Ahmed said the curfew had been relaxed as a “goodwill gesture” for Ramadan.
Offices, banks and shops opened in the summer capital Srinagar for the first time in more than a week, and people thronged markets to buy food, medicines and cooking gas.
The recent protests had reignited the separatist struggle in Indian Kashmir, where a two-decade-old insurgency has claimed more than 43,000 lives.
The demonstrations were triggered by a state government plan — made public in June — to donate land for use by a Hindu trust which oversees an annual Hindu pilgrimage in the Kashmir valley.
Anger among Kashmiri Muslims at the decision soon morphed into all-out protests against Indian rule.
In the face of the unrest, the state government abandoned the land deal, but on Sunday announced a compromise — rejected by Muslim leaders — under which the trust would be granted use of the land, but only for the duration of the pilgrimage.
Since June, at least 39 Muslims and three Hindus have died in clashes between police and protesters in the Kashmir valley and the mainly Hindu area of Jammu.
The curfew had threatened to derail preparations for Ramadan.
“I swear by Allah, we have nothing left to eat,” said Bilal Dar, 45, a construction worker.
“I couldn’t go to work because of the curfew so Ramadan will be just like any other month, even more miserable,” he said, adding he had been forced to borrow from neighbors to feed his family of six.
Housewife Sofia Jabeen said: “Days before the arrival of Ramadan, we used to prepare for the holy month. But now I can’t even find basic things like rice and wheat.”
Prior to the June unrest, the Kashmir valley had enjoyed a period of relative calm, as separatist violence waned after India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004.
India and Pakistan each hold the region in part, but claim it in full.
Meanwhile, separatist rebels bombed the home of the top elected official in India’s troubled northeastern state of Manipur, but the leader survived, police said yesterday.
The attack on Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh comes after a long period of relative calm in the northeast, where two dozen militant groups have fought for almost four decades, demanding separate homelands or regional autonomy.
Police said People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) rebels fired a shell on Singh’s fortified house late on Monday. He was home, but nobody was hurt.
Singh belongs to the Congress party, which heads India’s ruling central coalition.
This was the third attempt on Singh’s life. He was fired upon by militants in 2003 when his driver and bodyguard were killed, and again in 2006.
Immediately after the attack a person identifying himself as a PREPAK spokesman called local media offices and claimed responsibility of the attack. He warned Singh to mend his ways or face more attacks, media reports said.
India’s turbulent northeast comprises eight states which are home to more than 200 tribal and ethnic communities.
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