Following an address to the UN General Assembly by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, who condemned India’s behavior in Kashmir, authorities in the region have tightened restrictions on people’s movements. RNA - Police vans fitted with speakers made public announcements on Saturday in some parts of the main city of Srinagar about the restrictions.
Access to the main business center of the city was blocked with razor wire.
“This was necessitated after protests across Srinagar city last night soon after Imran Khan’s speech,” Reuters quoted an unnamed police official as saying.
On Friday, Khan condemned the Indian lockdown that was imposed on the Himalayan region in order to prevent large protests against India’s decision to revoke the region’s special status on August 5.
While warning of the consequences of lifting what he described as an “inhuman curfew,” Khan urged India to free all detainees.
He also warned of a bloodbath once India lifts its restrictions in Kashmir.
Soon after the speech, hundreds of protesters poured out onto the streets of Indian-controlled Kashmir, chanting slogans in support of Khan and calling for the independence of the Muslim-majority region.
The Indian Defense Ministry spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand, said at least three fighters had been killed in clashes in Ganderbal, about 19 kilometers north of Srinagar. Another three were killed in Batote, located on the highway connecting Jammu and Srinagar.
The New Delhi government has eased some of the movement curbs, but none of the prominent detainee has been freed. Mobile and internet connections remain suspended.
Kashmir has long been a flash point between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the disputed territory. Both countries rule parts of Kashmir while claiming it in full.
In August 1947, the British Raj was dismantled with the subcontinent divided into two independent states, Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
Millions were uprooted in one of the largest mass migrations in history, with experts estimating at least one million died in the communal violence unleashed by partition that continues to haunt the subcontinent to this day.
Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since their partition in 1947. Both countries claim all of Kashmir and have fought three wars over the territory.
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