Jammu and Kashmir imposes curfew over protest concerns
Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol the village of Beighpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district on May 6. File Photo by Farooq Khan/EPA-EFE
Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Administrators in Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir have imposed a curfew that will run through Wednesday over concerns about violent protests.
Srinagar officials said they received intelligence that separatists and groups supported by rival Pakistan were planning violent protests to mark the one-year anniversary of India stripping the region of autonomy.
Wednesday marks exactly one year since New Delhi surprised India's portion of the Jammu and Kashmir region by ending its autonomous rule and cutting phone and Internet services for months. The curfew took effect Monday night.
"There are specific inputs about violent protests endangering public life and property," an order issued by Srinagar District Magistrate Shahid Chaudhary states. "The report has further made a case that to prevent such violence and loss of life and property, it is essential to impose curfew in the district."
When it stripped autonomy, India arrested many Kashmir leaders and relations have done little to thaw since. Former Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is still in detention and leader Omar Abdullah was jailed for several months before he was released.
India's lockdown is estimated to have cost them more than $5 billion and 500,000 jobs. Pakistan and China, which share borders with India-controlled Kashmir, opposed the lockdown.
Hindu-led India and Muslim-led Pakistan have fought two major wars over Kashmir since their independence and currently divide the Kashmir region in two.
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