Kashmir: Restrictions return amid call to march

NEW DELHI, India

Indian authorities on Friday re-imposed restrictions on movement in major parts of the capital of Jammu and Kashmir after posters urged people to take part in a march, said local officials.

According to the Press Trust of India (PTI), restrictions were eased in most areas of Jammu and Kashmir earlier this week, with barricades being lifted and the movement of people and traffic growing gradually, but markets remained shut and mobile and Internet services were suspended for the 18th day on Thursday.

But posters appeared in the capital Srinagar in which the Joint Resistance Leadership (JLR), called on people to march to the UN military observer group to protest the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, said PTI.

Barricades and razor wires were erected in many places to prevent people from marching to Lal Chowk and Sonawar, where the UN office is located, said PTI, quoting officials.

Security forces were deployed at strength in many places to maintain law and order amid unrest over India’s treatment of the region.

Jammu and Kashmir has been facing communications blackout since Aug. 5 when New Delhi stripped the disputed region of special provisions guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.

A disputed region

From 1954 until Aug. 5, 2019, Jammu and Kashmir had special provisions under which it enacted its own laws. The provisions also protected the region's citizenship law, which barred outsiders from settling in and owning land in the territory.

India and Pakistan both hold Kashmir in parts and claim it in full. China also controls part of the contested region, but it is India and Pakistan who have fought two wars over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights groups, thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.