SRINAGAR, India (AFP) — Nearly 50 people were hurt in clashes between government forces and anti-India demonstrators in Kashmir Friday, after troops sealed off neighbourhoods to stifle protests against New Delhi's rule.
Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had called on Muslims to stage a strike and hold anti-India demonstrations to "protest the arrest and harassment of pro-freedom leaders".
Afterwards, hundreds of Muslims hit the streets in major towns of Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, including its capital Srinagar, following Friday prayers.
Police used batons and teargas and eventually fired shots to disperse the protesters who were chanting, "We want freedom" and "Go, India go," witnesses and doctors said.
"Nearly 50 people were injured across the valley, including some security personnel," a police officer said, demanding not to be named.
He said one of the stone-throwing protesters was shot in the legs.
The clashes came after authorities overnight deployed troops in Srinagar and told residents to stay indoors.
"We're restricting civilian movement to prevent any law and order problems," police officer Pervez Ahmed told AFP.
The authorities have detained over the past six weeks more than two dozen prominent separatists and scores of activists to prevent demonstrations against state elections being held in Indian Kashmir.
Groups opposed to Indian rule have called for a voter boycott of the polls. However the first round of the seven-stage election saw a nearly 60 percent turnout.
Many of the voters interviewed by AFP said they still wanted political freedom, but had voted to elect a government that would bring economic development and good management.
Police insisted there was no official curfew in place in Srinagar.
But housewife Shaheen Amin, 35, said: "They told me you can't go out as a curfew is in force."
Srinagar has been frequently disrupted by strikes, protest rallies and curfews since June when some of the biggest anti-India protests erupted in the region that left nearly 50 Muslims dead in ensuing security force action.
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