By Shazia Yousuf
SRINAGAR, Indian-held Kashmir
Indian authorities imposed a curfew in parts of Indian-held Kashmir’s capital Srinagar on Monday, when parts of the disputed region saw a spontaneous shutdown to mark the annual "Martyr's Day."
Thousands of Indian paramilitary troops and policemen were deployed across Srinagar, especially in the old city, where a strict curfew was imposed preventing residents from leaving their homes.
“They locked us up in our houses and didn’t let us go out. My aunt was sick and it was hours before they let us take her to the hospital. Imagine this is Ramadan,” Arshad Ahmad, a resident of the old city's Kawadara area, told Anadolu Agency.
July 13 is marked every year to commemorate the first major rebellion of Kashmiri Muslims against the Hindu Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh, in which 22 people were killed in police firing.
Security forces were concentrated around a Muslim shrine where the graveyard of those killed is located in the old city.
Both factions of the resistance group Hurriyat Conference had called for a rally to the graveyard, leading to Indian authorities trying to thwart the protest by placing pro-Independence leaders under house arrest and detaining activists overnight.
“We had to impose the restrictions at some places in the city to ensure safety and security, because of which the overall situation remained peaceful in Kashmir,” a senior official told Anadolu Agency.
Martyr’s Day is observed by both Indian-backed Kashmiri political groups and the pro-independence leadership.
Jammu & Kashmir's chief minister visited the graveyard on Monday, in line with the tradition of India-backed political leaders also commemorating the deaths.
The resistance leadership consider the 1931 deaths the beginning of an ongoing independence struggle.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full.
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.
Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in Indian-held Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
More than 70,000 Kashmiris have been killed so far in the violence, most of them by Indian forces. India maintains over half a million soldiers in the Indian-held Kashmir.
A part of Kashmir is also held by China.
