Indian paramilitary personnel keep watch on a deserted street during a strike called by pro-independence groups in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir region, on July 13, 2013 on Martyrs’ Day.
Shops, businesses, and schools have been closed in the Indian-controlled Kashmir after pro-independence groups called for a strike on the 82nd anniversary of a bloody uprising in the mountainous Himalayan region.
On Saturday, contingents of Indian police and paramilitary soldiers were deployed in the old quarters of Srinagar and laid razor wire across the roads.
Srinagar is the main city in the Indian-administered Kashmir region and situated 648 kilometers (403 miles) north of New Delhi.
Å“The restrictions have been put in place to maintain law and order in the city,” a senior police official said on condition of anonymity.
He added, “We can’t allow people to assemble and then deteriorate peaceful atmosphere in the city.”
Local resident Bashir Ahmed said people were warned to stay indoors, and were not allowed to come out of their houses.
On Friday, pro-independence leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were put under house arrest to prevent them from leading a march to the Mazar-e-Shohada (Martyr’s Graveyard).
Six people were also injured after clashes broke out between protesters and security forces, as demonstrators tried to march towards the graveyard after Friday prayers. Police fired canisters of tear gas to disperse the crowd.
July 13 is marked in Indian Kashmir as “Martyrs’ Day.” The annual holiday marks the day when 23 Muslims were ordered killed by the army of the state’s autocratic Hindu king Maharaja Hari Singh in 1931 to quell protests against his rule.
Every year the local government offers prayer and pays tribute to the martyrs by visiting the graveyard and laying wreaths.
Kashmir lies at the heart of more than 60 years of hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the region in full but each only has control over a section of the territory.
Over the past two decades, the conflict in Kashmir has left over 47,000 people dead by the official count, although other sources say the death toll could be as high as 90,000.
MP/AS
Republished with permission from: Press TV