28 May 2017•Update: 29 May 2017
By Zahid Rafiq
SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir
Amid curfews and restrictions by the Indian government, several thousand people in the disputed Kashmir attended the funeral prayers of Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, one of the two militants killed in a gunbattle with Indian forces on Saturday.
The people made their way to Ratsun village in south Kashmir's Tral, where the funeral prayers were held, despite the phone and internet restrictions that the government had imposed.
According to eyewitnesses, five to seven thousand people attended the funeral prayers.
Kashmiri resistance leader Yasin Malik, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, visited the family on Saturday. The Hurriyat Conference, of which Malik's party is a member, has called a two-day shutdown against the killing and called for a “march to ” on May 30.
After the death of the two militants on Saturday morning, pro-independent protests erupted across the region with unarmed civilians clashing with Indian forces. One civilian has been killed and at least 55 people, according to the department of health, were injured in the live firing and pellet guns and teargas shelling by the Indian forces.
Indian authorities said that the curfew in parts of the region will remain in force till further orders.
Schools and colleges have been ordered to shutdown on Monday to prevent the students from taking out protests.
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.
