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Thousands Defy Curfew in Indian Kashmir

   VOA News 09 July 2010
   Kashmiri  civilian  is  wheeled in on a stretcher after he was injured
   during a protest in Baramulla, north of Srinagar, India, 9 June 2010

Photo: AP

   Kashmiri  civilian  is  wheeled in on a stretcher after he was injured
   during a protest in Baramulla, north of Srinagar, India, 9 June 2010

   Thousands  of  people  in  Indian-controlled  Kashmir ignored security
   forces and defied a curfew Friday to join anti-India demonstrations.
   In  the  northern  town of Baramulla, police fired tear gas and rubber
   bullets   to   disperse   nearly  4,000  demonstrators.   Police  and
   protesters  also  clashed  in the southern Kashmiri town of Kakapora.Â
   At least five police officers and three protesters were injured.
   Police,  paramilitary  forces  and  army  troops  have  been trying to
   enforce  a strict curfew in Kashmir aimed at quelling weeks of violent
   anti-India protests, in which at least 16 people have been killed.
   Indian  authorities  prevented residents from worshipping at Kashmir's
   main  mosques  Friday,  fearing  further violence.  Troops reportedly
   allowed Muslims to gather at smaller mosques.
   Authorities  later temporarily lifted the curfew to allow residents to
   celebrate  the  Muslim  festival of "Shab-e-Miraj," which commemorates
   the Prophet Muhammad's night journey to heaven.
   Kashmir  is divided between India and Pakistan.  Muslim insurgents in
   Indian  Kashmir  have  been  fighting for independence from India or a
   merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan for more than 20 years. Â
   The  two  nuclear-armed  neighbors  have  fought  two  wars  over  the
   Himalayan region.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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