Wed 28 August 2019:
The Kashmir valley is under a strict lockdown, imposed hours before India’s decision to bring Kashmir under its direct rule.
A senior government official told AFP news agency on Wednesday that at least 500 protests and incidents of stone-throwing have occurred since August 5, with more than half taking place in Srinagar.
Nearly 100 civilians have been injured so far, with a further 300 police and more than 100 paramilitary troopers hurt, the official added.
“The number of protests could be much higher and bigger without the blockade in force,” the official told AFP, adding that “anger and public defiance is constantly rising”.
“Efforts for easing the conditions are made all the time but nothing seems to be working for now. There is nervousness spreading in the security establishment.”
He added that the communications blackout meant even security forces were struggling to obtain information about rural areas.
Meanwhile, residents are refusing to resume their normal lives in an act of defiance, an AFP reporter in Srinagar said.
While authorities have allowed schools to reopen, students have been staying away. Told to keep open all day or “don’t open at all”, some shops have remained shut.
At least 4,000 people have been detained across the valley, security and government sources told AFP last week, including businessmen, academics, activists and local politicians, with a few released since then.
Another senior government official told AFP that at least 1,350 protesters – described by the police as “stone-pelters” – have been arrested since August 5.
The detentions came as the Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the government a week to respond to a legal challenge calling for the communications blackout to be ended to allow for media reporting.
The court also said several petitions challenging the removal of the constitutional clauseon Kashmir’s autonomy would be held in October.
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