SRINAGAR, India, (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Muslims marched through Indian Kashmir’s main city on Saturday, setting fire to government and police buildings in the latest of what are the biggest protests in two years against Indian rule.
Police fired tear gas and live ammunition into the air to disperse crowds in Srinagar, the heart of a 20-year insurgency against New Delhi’s rule of a region crucial to peaceful relations between India and Pakistan.
Three-month-long protests have killed 70 people so far, mostly stone-throwing protesters amid a series of civilian deaths blamed on the heavy-handedness of security forces. The protests have shown no sign of abating despite calls for calm by New Delhi and separatist leaders.
After special Eid prayers to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting month, tens of thousands people poured into the streets from mosques in Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital, waving green Islamic flags and chanting “There is no God but Allah” and “Go India, go back.”
The main demonstration was led by the region’s senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
