Kashmir curfew enters day-50
Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have arrested a top separatist leader, his aide said yesterday, as the region's chief minister met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defended a 50-day lockdown on the region.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief cleric and head of All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, a political coalition opposed to the Indian rule of Kashmir, was arrested near Srinagar on Friday, his aide, Tariq Buch told AFP.
"He was first detained by police while trying to leave home to lead a peaceful demonstration. We came to know later he was taken away to Cheshma Shahi (a high security zone in Srinagar)," Buch said.
Thousands of angry demonstrators have defied a sweeping curfew to clash with government forces almost daily.
It came as the number of civilians killed since protests erupted in Kashmir last month after the shooting of a popular militant leader hit 68 yesterday, while a police constable was also shot dead.
Police shot one protester dead Friday, while the body of another was found in a river a day after he was chased by police during an anti-India demonstration.
Rights groups say 70,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting and thousands disappeared after they were taken away by security forces since 1989 when an armed rebellion against Indian rule began.
Even as India continues to ramp up pressure on Islamabad over its incitement of violence and unrest in Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday announced that he has tasked 22 parliamentarians with raking up the Kashmir issue in various international forums including the United Nations.
Sharif's announcement comes days after a snub from India, which flatly refused an 'invitation' from Islamabad to hold talks on Kashmir. Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, responding to the invitation from Islamabad, had termed Pakistan the " prime perpetrator of terrorism in the region ".
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