Srinagar: A shutdown was observed in Indian Occupied and Kashmir as a mark of protest against India’s Republic Day on Wednesday.
These strikes for the past 32 years have been one of several forms of Kashmiri resentment against the Indian rule.
In order to quell possible protests, Indian authorities suspended phone and internet services which had been restored only a day earlier. Troops were deployed to check cars at several checkpoints across the state capital Srinagar.
Kashmiris living in the Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir observed the day as Black Day.
Rallies were held in Kotli, Neelum Valley and Muzaffarabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar and other cities.
Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965 and 1971 — two of them over Kashmir.
Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989. Web Desk
