Eid celebrated in disputed Kashmir amid clashes
Restrictions, protests, clashes mark celebration of end of Ramadan in Muslim-majority Himalayan region
By Zahid Rafiq
SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir
Eid al-Fitr was celebrated in the disputed Kashmir on Monday amid restrictions on movement imposed by the Indian authorities and pro-independence demonstrations and clashes between protesters and Indian forces at several places.
Clashes were reported after the Eid prayers from several areas including the old city in capital Srinagar, Anantnag in south Kashmir and Sopore in north Kashmir.
The Indian authorities had imposed restrictions in several areas in Srinagar city and major towns in the disputed Himalayan region. The major resistance leaders had also been arrested ahead of Eid.
Top resistance leaders, Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, were placed under house arrest to prevent them from addressing any Eid gathering. Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was taken into preventive custody and lodged at Central Jail in Srinagar.
In his recorded Eid message, Geelani urged the Kashmiri people to celebrate Eid with simplicity and reiterated that the struggle in Kashmir was about the resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
"It has come to my notice that some youth are raising slogans of organizations like Daesh. Such slogans have nothing to do with us," he said.
"Our struggle is sacred and meant for the resolution of Jammu and Kashmir issue. We should remain united and people should have trust in the leadership."
Geelani's statement about the Daesh is seen as a response to the statement of a militant commander, Zakir Musa, who had last month, in a recorded message, said that he was fighting to establish Islamic rule and not for secular nationalism.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
The two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.
Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan. More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.
